DOHA — Twenty-three staff at a hospital in Qatar were injured when tents being used to boost capacity in response to coronavirus collapsed in a fierce storm, local media reported on Friday.

Winds of up to 72 kilometers per hour (45 miles per hour) caused two expansion tents at Hazm Mebaireek General Hospital in Qatar's Industrial Area to collapse on Thursday, the Gulf Times reported.

Another daily Peninsula added, no other parts of the Hazm Mebaireek General Hospital were damaged in the storm.

It also reported that all patients were immediately transferred from the expansion area and no patients sustained injuries, the ministry said, adding that in the process of safeguarding and transferring patients, 23 members of staff were injured. Most injuries were minor and injured staff are receiving medical care.

The Industrial Area, a densely-populated district mostly home to migrant laborers, has been the epicenter of Qatar's outbreak. Tens of thousands of residents were quarantined in the area after cases of the novel coronavirus were confirmed among the community in mid-March.

Members of Hamad Medical Corporation's System-Wide Incident Command Committee responded at once and coordinated the response.

Executive Director of Hazm Mebaireek General Hospital Hussein Ishaq said: "We take today's incident very seriously and we are investigating what happened.

“I want to express my appreciation to all the HMGH staff who heroically helped ensure that no patients were injured and were safely transferred to other hospitals to continue receiving care."

Patients being treated for COVID-19 have been transferred to the hospital in Ras Laffan, a designated COVID-19 hospital. — Agencies