Pakistan Hospital Fire Kills 14 Newborns at PIMS Islamabad

A Pattern of Deadly Hospital Fires

This was not the first time a fault in hospital air conditioning has killed newborns in Pakistan. In June 2024, a similar fire tore through the paediatric ward of Sahiwal Teaching Hospital in Punjab province, killing 11 babies.

Following that incident, Punjab's Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, the niece of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, ordered the arrest of the hospital's medical superintendent and three senior doctors after inquiries found that the hospital's fire extinguishers had expired.

The Mother and Child Hospital at PIMS has two wings, one older and one newly constructed. The fire broke out on the third floor of the older wing, which has one main entrance and exit. Witnesses said the emergency exits were blocked from inside, and several people at the hospital reported that renovation work had been under way somewhere inside the building in recent weeks.

Conflicting Accounts of the Response

Accounts of exactly when rescuers reached the ward differ. A statement from the Islamabad district administration put the first emergency call at 6:45am, with fire tenders and ambulances reaching the hospital within seven minutes. An official at Rescue 1122, the government-run ambulance, fire and rescue service, said his station received word at 6:55am and reached the hospital less than 10 minutes later. A video he recorded on arrival was timestamped 7:06am.

A fireman, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the difficulty of entering the building. "We had to break the concrete grills, behind which were windows. We had to break those windows, and through them we were able to rescue people," he said.

Witnesses offered a harrowing picture of the scene. Kamran Riaz, whose brother's three-day-old daughter died in the fire, said there was little to no staff presence in the morning when the fire broke out and that only one entrance and exit was available while the second was blocked.

What Happens Next

The two inquiry committees are expected to determine the cause of the fire, assess whether safety protocols were followed, and identify responsibility for the deaths. Families of the victims have expressed frustration over a lack of clarity about what occurred and what they should do next.

Further details on the findings of the investigations and any additional accountability measures are awaited.