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A fire that erupted in the early hours of Wednesday at one of Islamabad's largest state-run hospitals has claimed the lives of 14 newborn babies, with grieving parents alleging that a locked door and a slow emergency response left their children trapped inside a burning ward.
The blaze began in an air-conditioning unit on the third floor of the mother and child unit at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), a flagship public hospital in the Pakistani capital. Fifteen infants were in the ward when the flames spread. Only one of them survived.
Parents who were at the hospital described scenes of chaos and desperation. Hivsa Walid was close to the maternity room visiting her sister-in-law, who had delivered a baby girl days earlier. She recalled first hearing a shout and assuming a patient had passed away, until smoke became visible. The two women grabbed the newborn and ran down the stairs without stopping to collect any belongings, she said, adding that some mothers had given birth only hours before.
Other families said they were unable to reach their babies in time. Jaweria, whose child died in the fire, told AFP that the entrance to the ward had been locked, and that she spent two hours weeping outside while waiting for assistance. Police, she said, showed up roughly four hours later saying they intended to investigate. She questioned how medical staff could have left the infants behind.
Hospital authorities pushed back against the locked-door claims. Rana Imran Sikander, PIMS executive director, told the BBC that the ward's door was staffed rather than shut, explaining that security measures were in place because newborns have previously been abducted from government-run facilities in Pakistan.
But multiple witnesses contradicted that account. One father, speaking to Reuters, said he had visited the ward daily for eight days and had seen no fire-safety equipment or adequate escape routes. He said most doors remained closed at all times because staff wanted to restrict how often parents could visit their children. Several people also reported that personnel on duty were nowhere to be found when the fire started.
Rescuers and relatives ultimately forced their way in. A woman who declined to be named told AFP that families had to break through the door themselves, while emergency crews shattered windows in an effort to push back the flames. Another witness, Abdul Ghafoor, said he attempted to enter the building to help evacuate patients but thick black smoke prevented him from reaching the maternity section. He estimated that rescue teams took close to two hours to arrive.
Officials offered a sharply different timeline. Islamabad's Chief Commissioner Sohail Ashraf insisted that firefighting units were dispatched and reached the scene immediately after the initial distress call, according to AFP. PIMS operates one of the country's largest maternal and child health units, with 156 beds.
Deadly fires remain a recurring problem across Pakistan, where critics point to weak safety legislation, poorly enforced building regulations and chronic negligence in public institutions. In January, survivors of a blaze at a Karachi shopping center that killed dozens said locked emergency exits had likely made the death toll far worse.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif voiced profound grief over the infant deaths and directed officials to launch an urgent inquiry into the incident, according to a statement from his office. His government also removed Federal Health Secretary Aslam Ghauri from his post, a significant suspension within the health ministry. Describing the loss of the newborns as something beyond repair, the statement underscored the gravity of a tragedy that has once again turned a spotlight on Pakistan's failing hospital safety standards.
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