A tragic fire at a maternity ward in Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital, has claimed the lives of 14 newborn babies, leaving families in mourning and raising critical questions about the effectiveness of the emergency response.
The fire ignited shortly after dawn on Wednesday at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), a prominent government hospital in the city. It reportedly began in an air-conditioning unit on the third floor of the mother and child unit.
Hivsa Walid was nearby with her sister-in-law, who had recently given birth, when she heard shouting and saw smoke.
In haste, she grabbed the newborn and hurried downstairs with her sister-in-law, abandoning their belongings.
“Some patients had delivered their babies just that night,” she recounted, describing the evacuation as chaotic and terrifying.
Out of the 15 babies present in the ward, only one survived according to reports.
For the grieving parents, the tragedy is exacerbated by claims that emergency services took too long to arrive.
Khurram Mehmood, 40, shared that his three-day-old daughter was among those who perished.
“I lost my daughter. She was only three days old,” he lamented.
Authorities are set to investigate the fire’s cause, the hospital’s safety measures, and the response time during the crisis.
This disaster has reignited concerns about fire safety and emergency preparedness in Pakistan’s public hospitals.
