Fourteen newborn infants tragically lost their lives during the early hours of Wednesday, 26 August, following a devastating fire at a major state-run hospital in Pakistan’s capital. The blaze broke out on the third floor of the Mother and Child Health Centre inside the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad.
Hospital administration confirmed that an air conditioning unit malfunctioned, sparking the fire. Fifteen neonates were inside the intensive care unit at the time of the incident; emergency teams managed to rescue only one child alive.
The tragedy triggered intense public outrage, with grieving families pointing to catastrophic safety lapses and delayed emergency responses. Relatives present at the scene alleged that critical access doors were locked, hindering rescue efforts as dense smoke engulfed the unit. Hibsa Waleed, whose sister-in-law had recently delivered a baby at the facility, recalled hearing desperate screams before seeing thick plumes of smoke. She managed to grab the newborn and escape, describing the scene as a chaotic blur of panic.
Other eyewitnesses recounted desperate attempts to break down locked barriers. Abdul Ghafoor, who tried to enter the building to assist trapped patients, reported being forced back by heavy black smoke, leaving parents and victims completely trapped inside. An eyewitness informed Agence France-Presse (AFP) that civilians ultimately had to smash doors to gain entry, whilst firefighters broke exterior windows to vent the fumes and access the ward.
Hospital officials countered allegations of negligence. PIMS Executive Director Rana Imran Sikandar clarified to the BBC that the ward doors were not deliberately locked to trap patients. Instead, security guards had been stationed there to control access—a strict protocol implemented following past incidents of child abduction at government medical facilities. Islamabad Chief Commissioner Sohail Ashraf also insisted that emergency responders were dispatched immediately upon receiving the distress call.
These assurances provided no comfort to devastated parents. Javeria, a mother who lost her newborn, alleged that she waited fruitlessly for assistance during the fire, noting that police arrived hours later to begin investigations. Another father, who had spent eight days visiting his child in the unit, highlighted the complete absence of adequate fire safety systems and functional emergency exits, noting that auxiliary doors were routinely kept locked under the guise of security management.
The tragedy underscores chronic structural vulnerabilities within Pakistan’s public infrastructure. PIMS stands as one of the country’s flagship public healthcare institutions, with its specialized Mother and Child Health Centre housing 156 beds. However, structural non-compliance, lack of fire suppression hardware, and poorly managed emergency routes remain widespread. A similar disaster occurred in January at a Karachi shopping mall, where dozens died after being trapped by blocked emergency exits.
In the wake of public fury, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif issued a formal statement expressing deep grief over the tragedy, describing the loss of infant lives as an irreparable disaster. He ordered an immediate high-level enquiry into the cause of the fire and the subsequent emergency response. As an initial administrative measure, senior health officials were held accountable, with Federal Health Secretary Aslam Ghouri suspended from his post pending the outcome of the investigation.
