At least 14 newborn babies die in fire at Pakistan hospital’s maternity ward

At least fourteen newborn infants died when a fire broke out in the intensive care unit of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad, the country’s largest state‑run hospital. The blaze, which began in the early hours of Wednesday, engulfed the maternity ward and caused the deaths of 14 babies, according to a statement released by the hospital administration. A 15th infant was reportedly saved by a doctor.

The fire started in the nursery, where newborns were kept in incubators and on oxygen support. Investigators say a faulty air‑conditioning unit exploded, triggering the fire. The hospital’s health minister, Mustafa Kamal, said the oxygen canisters in the ward amplified the blaze. The incident occurred while 15 babies were present in the ward; most were in incubators, according to hospital spokesperson Dr. Aneeza Jalil, who spoke to Dawn. She added that the hospital staff were overwhelmed and that the families were left to fend for themselves as the smoke filled the ward.

Families and staff were forced to flee through stairwells, windows and ladders. Witnesses described scenes of panic. Sardar Atti‑ur‑Rehman, a 38‑year‑old man whose wife had given birth the day before, was sleeping at the hospital when he heard the alarm. He rushed to the maternity ward and, despite thick smoke, managed to locate his wife and child, who had survived. He recalled seeing a woman on a stretcher and helping her out, but other mothers refused to leave, crying for their babies. “I tried to enter the ICU but the smoke was too thick,” he said. “I begged her to save herself and we would look for the child later.”

Another witness, 26‑year‑old Alamzaib Khan, described how he had been lying on the pavement when he heard screaming. He ran to the children’s ward, found his wife recovering from a C‑section, and then tried to help rescue other patients. “People were crying, screaming and asking for help,” he said. “Women were in pain themselves but begging everyone to help them to rescue their children.”

An unnamed father whose newborn son was among those who died claimed that the nursery door was locked and that no staff were present to unlock it. Rescuers smashed windows to reach the babies. The Islamabad chief commissioner, Sohail Ashraf, said emergency services arrived within minutes after an alarm was raised at just before 7 a.m.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered an immediate investigation into the incident, calling it “irreparable” and demanding that those responsible be identified and disciplined. President Asif Ali Zardari expressed condolences to the bereaved families in a statement, describing the loss as heartbreaking.

The tragedy comes amid a broader pattern of fire incidents in Pakistan, where building safety regulations are often weakly enforced. Fires in large structures such as factories and shopping centres are common, frequently attributed to poor safety laws and lax enforcement of building codes.

PIMS officials said the fire was quickly brought under control and that the surviving infants were transferred to the intensive care unit. The hospital remains closed for a thorough investigation, and authorities are reviewing safety protocols in maternity wards across the country.