At least 14 newborn babies were killed when a fire swept through the maternity ward of Pakistan’s largest state hospital in Islamabad early on Wednesday.
The blaze broke out at about 6:45 a.m. on the third floor of the Mother and Child Health Ward at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, according to the district administration, Daily Mirror reported, carrying Euronews copy. The hospital administration confirmed that 14 newborns in the intensive care unit died.
Hospital spokesperson Dr. Aneeza Jalil said 15 babies were in the ward at the time and that one was saved by a doctor, NewsFirst reported. That figure reconciles with the death toll: 15 infants present, 14 dead, one survivor.
Cause and escape
Investigators said the fire started when a faulty air-conditioning compressor exploded inside the nursery where the infants were under intensive care. Pakistan’s Health Minister Mustafa Kamal said many of the babies were in incubators or on oxygen, and that the oxygen canisters made the fire worse.
Women who had just given birth ran down several flights of stairs, or climbed out of windows and down ladders, to escape.
Islamabad Chief Commissioner Sohail Ashraf said on X that rescue teams, specialists and police reached the site immediately and brought the fire under control.
Disputed account of a locked door
The two reports diverge on one point that goes to how many infants might have been saved.
NewsFirst reported that witnesses, quoted by foreign media, claimed the door to the maternity ward was locked. The hospital’s executive director, Rana Imran Sikander, rejected that, saying the door was not locked but manned — a precaution, he said, against babies being stolen, which has happened before at government hospitals. The Daily Mirror report does not mention the allegation.
Investigation
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered an immediate investigation and expressed condolences to the families. “The loss of children in such circumstances is irreparable,” a statement from his office said.
Police said the newborns were so severely burned that DNA testing would be needed to confirm their identities before the bodies could be released. The statement followed calls from parents for the remains to be handed over immediately.
Fires in large buildings are frequent in Pakistan, often attributed to weak safety laws and building codes and lax enforcement.
