A fire that broke out at a maternity ward in Islamabad has killed 14 infants, according to Pakistani authorities.
The blaze erupted early Wednesday on the third floor of the Mother and Child Health Ward at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), one of the capital’s major public hospitals.
Authorities said the fire was caused by a faulty air-conditioning unit. PIMS spokeswoman Aneeza Jalil said an electrical fault caused the fire to start from an air conditioner.
The incident sparked chaotic scenes at the hospital, with witnesses describing thick black smoke, shattered windows and confusion as families tried to escape and rescue their children.
Khurram Mehmood, 40, said he lost his three-day-old daughter in the fire and claimed rescuers took hours to arrive.
“My wife was in the ward. They took everyone out. We were sitting on the road waiting for help,” he said.
Another woman, Jaweria, said she lost her infant and claimed the door to the neonatal intensive care unit was locked during the fire.
“I do not believe this. Give me my child back,” she said, questioning why the babies had been left inside.
Witness Abdul Ghafoor said he entered the hospital in an attempt to rescue patients but was unable to reach the maternity ward because of the heavy smoke.
“There was thick black smoke inside, and patients were trapped,” he said, adding that rescue teams arrived nearly two hours after the fire began.
However, Islamabad Chief Commissioner Sohail Ashraf said the emergency call was made shortly before 7:00am local time and that rescue and police teams reached the scene immediately before bringing the fire under control.
Another witness alleged that hospital security guards prevented people from leaving the building.
“People had to break the door down and rescue teams had to break the windows to control the fire,” she said.
‘Ran For Our Lives’
Families gathered outside the hospital as the extent of the tragedy became clear. An AFP reporter saw a nurse calling out the names of babies who had died in the blaze.
Other patients emerged from the building covered in soot, while some parents desperately searched for their children.
Shagufta Parveen, whose 10-day-old baby survived, described the terrifying moments inside the hospital.
“People were screaming. There was black smoke. We ran for our lives. Thank God my baby is safe,” she said.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi expressed grief over the deaths of the 14 infants.
Sharif called for a thorough investigation into the incident and ordered authorities to identify those responsible and take the strictest possible action.
The tragedy has renewed concerns over fire safety in Pakistan, where major building fires have frequently been linked to poor safety standards, inadequate building codes and weak enforcement.
In January, more than 65 people were reportedly killed in a shopping centre fire in Karachi, while another mall fire in the city killed at least 11 people in 2023.
In 2012, about 250 workers died in a garment factory fire in Karachi, one of the country’s deadliest industrial disasters.
