14 babies die in Pakistan hospital blaze

A fire in a Pakistan hospital has resulted in the deaths of 14 infants, some of whom were in incubators.

The blaze on Wednesday morning roared through Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) in Islamabad.

Pakistan's Dawn newspaper reported, quoting hospital administration, that the fire began on the third floor of the Mother and Child Hospital’s ward at about 6.45am.

Sohail Ashraf, the Islamabad chief commissioner, said on X that rescue teams, specialists, police and himself "immediately reached at site and controlled the fire".

Dawn put the number of fire trucks at six and ambulances on the scene at four.

Pims spokesperson Dr Aneeza Jalil told Dawn that 15 babies were in the ward. “At least one baby was saved by a doctor,” she said.

Health Minister Mustafa Kamal told media that the babies in the affected ward were either in incubators or hooked up to oxygen.

Local reports have said faulty air conditioning was to blame for the flames. The fire once sparked was exacerbated by the presence of the oxygen tanks.

Pakistan's prime minister Shehbaz Sharif called it: "A tragedy involving children is an irreparable loss."

The nursery was apparently in a building that was being renovated. “After the fire erupted, they told patients to vacate the building. Women who had just given birth had to rush down the stairs from the second floor,” said Malik Israr, whose niece was admitted to the hospital.

A committee headed by the additional deputy commissioner will now investigate the fire, safety arrangements and protocols in place at the hospital.

The members of the committee, reported Dawn, include the director general of the Capital Emergency Services, the City police station superintendent, the assistant commissioner (Industrial Area), the director general of the Capital Development Authority’s Electrical and Mechanical wing, representatives from Pims and Islamabad Electric Supply Company.

Further details are awaited.

AFP explained that fires are not so uncommon in Pakistan. In January, for instance, more than 65 people were killed in a shopping centre fire in Karachi.

At least 11 people were killed in another shopping mall fire in Karachi in 2023.

In 2021, at least 16 workers died after a factory fire in the same city.

In 2012, at least 250 labourers died at a garment factory in Baldia Town, in western Karachi, when a fire engulfed the facility. The building had no fire escape, added AFP.