A devastating fire erupted on Wednesday morning in Islamabad’s largest medical facility, the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), leading to the tragic death of fourteen newborns. This incident took place on the third floor of the hospital’s maternity ward.
The blaze ignited around 7 a.m. in the nursery, engulfing significant portions of the ward. Emergency services responded swiftly, deploying six fire engines and four ambulances to the location. The Islamabad district administration provided this information in a public statement.
Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, an Islamabad lawmaker, addressed the media outside the hospital. He confirmed that during the fire’s outbreak, fifteen babies, along with four staff members and a number of mothers, were present in the ward. Fortunately, doctors managed to save one newborn.
The Health Minister, Syed Mustafa Kamal, revealed that an air conditioning unit explosion initiated the fire. It spread rapidly due to nearby oxygen cylinders. Reacting to this calamity, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif demanded an immediate investigation to determine those accountable. His office emphasized the need for identifying responsible parties and ensuring stringent actions.
According to the World Bank, Pakistan’s health care spending ranks low in the South Asian region. Following a new national budget approval in June, the largest doctors’ association in Pakistan warned of the health care sector’s structural deterioration, describing it as “a state of systemic collapse.” The maternity ward in PIMS houses over 150 beds, as per the hospital’s website.
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan visited PIMS for a brief medical checkup just days before this tragic event. Sadly, the fire adds to recent tragedies involving children in Pakistan; in June, 14 children perished when a tutoring center’s roof collapsed near Lahore in Punjab Province.
This report includes contributions from journalists Zia ur-Rehman and Salman Masood.
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