Pakistan26 August, 20263 min read
Fire at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences In Islamabad Kills At Least 15 Infants
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Fire in PIMS nursery in Islamabad kills at least 14 newborns. Blaze triggered by an air-conditioning fault; at least one infant rescued.
Infants die at PIMS
A fire broke out at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad, killing at least 15 infants, after a fault in air conditioning systems triggered the blaze, local broadcaster Geo TV reported on Wednesday.
Reuters said the fire started around 7 a.m. (0200 GMT) at the PIMS mother and child health ward on the third floor, where Geo reported there were 16 newborns when the fire broke out and one was rescued.
CNN reported that at least 13 children, mostly newborns, died after the fire broke out in a nursery for newborn babies at the PIMS gynecology ward, and that the blaze appeared to have been triggered by an air conditioning compressor explosion inside the nursery.
CNN added that hospital authorities were able to rescue one child and that the death toll could rise, while Islamabad’s Chief Commissioner Sohail Ashraf said an emergency fire call was made just before 7 a.m. local time and that rescue teams “controlled the fire.”
Sharif orders probe
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed authorities to conduct an immediate investigation, and his office said, "Those responsible should be identified, and the strictest action should be taken," as the ward was cordoned off and ambulances were seen outside the hospital building. CNN reported that Islamabad’s Chief Commissioner Sohail Ashraf said an emergency fire call was made just before 7 a.m. local time Wednesday and that rescue teams “controlled the fire,” while hospital authorities were able to rescue one child.
In a separate account, CBS News said the fire began at about 6:45 a.m., apparently after the compressor of an air-conditioning unit exploded inside the nursery in the gynecology ward, and that firefighters quickly responded and extinguished the blaze. CBS News also reported that Sharif expressed sorrow over the deaths and ordered an immediate investigation, quoting his statement: "A tragedy involving children is an irreparable loss," as the nursery housed at least 15 newborns when the fire broke out and at least one baby was rescued.
Death toll disputes
The reported death toll varied across outlets, with Reuters describing at least 15 infants killed and CNN saying at least 13 children, mostly newborns, died, while Al Jazeera reported that at least 15 newborns were killed and Geo News cited officials as saying the nursery housed 16 newborns at the time of the incident. Al Jazeera said the fire started after an air conditioner compressor exploded in the nursery and that only one was rescued, while it also reported that the blaze had been extinguished and firefighters were carrying out cooling operations at the site.
Other coverage put the toll at 14, with Anadolu Ajansı saying 14 newborns died after the fire broke out at around 7 a.m. on the third floor of the Maternal and Child Health Ward at PIMS, where 15 babies were being treated, and with Sky News reporting that at least 14 babies died and that one baby was rescued. BBC reporting described families outside the ward after police said the newborns who died had been badly burnt and would need to be identified through DNA tests, and it quoted a police-linked process that bodies could be returned to parents only after DNA tests, as it also said Islamabad’s District Magistrate formed a fact-finding committee to investigate the fire and produce a report “within 24 hours.”