A fire in a Romanian hospital killed seven coronavirus patients, officials have said, with the third deadly hospital blaze within a year sparking anger over the country's dilapidated infrastructure.

Flames engulfed the intensive care unit of a hospital for infectious diseases in the city of Constanta on the shore of the Black Sea, according to Interior Minister Lucian Bode.

“Five patients were found dead inside the hospital, while two others died while being transferred to other facilities,” he told reports.

Some 100 people had to be evacuated, emergency services spokesman Razvan Parconie told AFP.