Summary
- Sources also claimed that emergency fire drills had not been conducted at PIMS for years, raising questions about whether hospital staff were adequately prepared to protect critically ill newborns during an emergency.
- Sources have alleged that emergency exits at the hospital were kept locked and that the fire safety system did not have water available when it was needed.
- The inquiry will need to establish whether emergency exits were actually locked, whether water was available in the firefighting system, whether alarms worked, whether fire drills were conducted regularly and whether the hospital’s equipment and emergency procedures met required safety standards.
Islamabad: The deaths of 14 newborn babies in a fire at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences have triggered serious questions about fire safety at the federal capital’s largest public hospital. Sources claim that emergency exits were locked, the fire safety system lacked water, and the alarm system failed to respond in time.
If confirmed by the ongoing investigation, the allegations could turn the tragedy into a major case of institutional negligence. Sources also claimed that emergency fire drills had not been conducted at PIMS for years, raising questions about whether hospital staff were adequately prepared to protect critically ill newborns during an emergency.
The fire broke out early Wednesday morning in the Mother and Child Health Centre at PIMS. According to the initial report, the fire was reported at 6:54am and firefighters reached the hospital six minutes later. Fourteen newborns died, while seven newborns and 12 women and men were rescued, according to the report attributed to the Capital Development Authority.
However, a major discrepancy has emerged over the death toll.
Hospital records cited in the available material state that 15 newborns were present in the affected nursery and that 14 died while one was rescued. The National Assembly Speaker’s statement, however, referred to the death of 15 newborn babies. The parliamentary record and hospital record therefore do not currently give the same death toll, and the exact final figure should be confirmed by the authorities. The difference adds another question to an already disturbing incident.
Sources have alleged that emergency exits at the hospital were kept locked and that the fire safety system did not have water available when it was needed. These claims have not yet been established as final findings, but they are among the issues that require investigation.
Sources have also alleged that PIMS had not conducted emergency fire drills for years. Such drills are intended to train medical workers to protect themselves and patients during fires and other emergencies. The reported absence of regular drills has raised questions about the hospital’s emergency preparedness.
Other source based claims include problems with old oxygen cylinders, emergency exits and the fire alarm system. The claims remain subject to investigation and should not be treated as established facts until the inquiry is completed.
The exact cause of the fire also remains unclear. Health Minister Mustafa Kamal said the fire erupted after an air conditioner blast in the neonatal intensive care ward and that the presence of oxygen caused the fire to intensify.
However, Parliamentary Secretary Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said the cause could not yet be determined. He said investigators were examining the scene and that oxygen supply had contributed to the spread of the fire.
The conflicting early explanations make the inquiry especially important. A final determination of the cause will have to come from the investigation rather than initial statements. The government has already taken action at the senior administrative level.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed anger over the incident and ordered the immediate suspension and removal of Federal Health Secretary Aslam Ghori. A high level inquiry committee was also formed to investigate the tragedy. Former Interior Secretary Shahid Khan was named chairman of the committee, while Secretary Establishment Dr Barrister Nabeel Awan was included as a member.
Secretary Housing Captain retired Muhammad Mahmood was given additional charge of Secretary National Health Services following the suspension of Aslam Ghori. The tragedy has also led to demands for Health Minister Mustafa Kamal’s resignation.
Affected women protested and called for his immediate resignation, arguing that inadequate fire safety and basic arrangements at the capital’s largest public hospital represented a serious failure of responsibility. They demanded a government investigation and legal action against those found responsible.
The minister, however, defended his position by pointing to the huge increase in Islamabad’s population and the ageing infrastructure of PIMS.
In a media interview, Mustafa Kamal said PIMS was originally built in 1985 for a population of around 400,000, while Islamabad’s population has now reached about five million. He acknowledged that PIMS lacks a modern firefighting system comparable to those in newer hospitals and said the hospital’s capacity and infrastructure had not kept pace with the city’s growth.
The incident has now raised a much wider question about the safety of patients in government hospitals.
PIMS treats hundreds of patients across different departments, and concerns about fire protection in one area could have implications for other parts of the hospital if confirmed. Sources have claimed that there was no effective, integrated plan for protecting patients and staff during a major emergency.
The tragedy also occurs against a wider history of hospital fires in Pakistan.
Before the PIMS incident, the deadliest documented hospital fire in the available record was reported at Sahiwal Teaching Hospital in June 2024, where 11 infants died. The inquiry reportedly found that fire extinguishers were expired or not functioning and that standard procedures were not followed during the evacuation of the infants.
In June 2012, seven newborns died in a fire at Services Hospital Lahore. A separate fire at the same hospital in 2020 killed one woman and injured eight other people.
Other fatal incidents were reported at Karachi’s National Institute of Child Health, Sindh Government Hospital Liaquatabad and private hospitals in Dera Ghazi Khan and Karachi. The documented record also includes several non fatal hospital fires in different cities.
The figures show that the PIMS tragedy is not an isolated warning. Repeated hospital fires have raised concerns about electrical systems, air conditioning equipment, fire extinguishers, emergency exits, alarms, oxygen supplies and evacuation arrangements.
The Parliamentary Caucus on Child Rights has demanded a transparent, impartial and thorough investigation into the PIMS tragedy. It said the inquiry should examine the cause of the fire, safety arrangements, emergency response and the role of all relevant individuals and authorities.
National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq also expressed grief over the deaths and called the incident an extremely distressing tragedy.
Senate Chairman Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani also demanded effective fire safety systems and emergency arrangements in hospitals, stressing that negligence in protecting human lives could not be accepted.
The central question now is not only what caused the fire but whether the hospital had enough working systems to prevent a fire from becoming a disaster.
The inquiry will need to establish whether emergency exits were actually locked, whether water was available in the firefighting system, whether alarms worked, whether fire drills were conducted regularly and whether the hospital’s equipment and emergency procedures met required safety standards.
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