Fire tears through hospital nursery in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing 14 newborns

Islamabad — A fire erupted early Wednesday at a nursery in a major government hospital in Pakistan’s capital, killing 14 newborns, hospital officials and the government said.

There were at least 15 newborns in the nursery at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad when the fire broke out, hospital officials said, but one baby was rescued, officials with the hospital said. Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal confirmed that 14 babies died.

Rescue officials said the fire began about 6:45 a.m. when an air-conditioning unit compressor exploded inside the nursery in the gynecology ward.

“The scene is unbearable in the ward,” senior nurse Noreen Khan told CBS News’ Sami Yousafzai in a phone interview. “The 14 babies who had just opened their eyes to the world died just after a day or two being alive.”

Firefighters quickly responded and extinguished the blaze, and rescue teams began cooling operations at the site, local media reported. 

The Islamabad district magistrate appointed a multiagency fact-finding committee with directions to submit a report within 24 hours. The panel will investigate the cause of the fire and its spread, determine whether adequate fire-safety measures were in place and evaluate the emergency response, a government notification said.

 Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi expressed sorrow over the fire.

“A tragedy involving children is an irreparable loss,” said Sharif, who also ordered an immediate investigation.

President Asif Ali Zardari offered condolences to the families, describing the deaths as “heartbreaking and an irreparable loss.”

Zardari called for those responsible to be identified and dealt with under the law and urged hospitals to ensure effective fire-safety measures and emergency procedures are in place, particularly in wards caring for newborns.

Families react  

The deaths of the children sent a wave of shock and grief across the country. Police were deployed at the hospital as grieving parents and relatives gathered, some weeping, while others called for accountability and demanded answers about how the fire began and whether the nursery had adequate firefighting equipment.

Amir Abbasi told CBS News he lost his newborn nephew in the blast.

“It was my first nephew after years — a baby boy in our family. I can’t believe that little baby, I touched his soft face and hand yesterday, is now just human ashes.”

“Give me my child,” a woman who lost her baby cried outside the hospital, where ambulances had gathered. “I want justice.”

Mohammad Sami said she gave birth three days earlier and her baby was receiving intensive care in the nursery when the fire erupted.

“I don’t know what to say or who to blame,” she said through tears. “I have lost my child.”

Hospital officials told families the infants’ bodies would be released after the necessary paperwork was completed, Sami said.

Kamal, the health minister, told Pakistan’s Geo News channel he was traveling from Karachi to Islamabad to personally oversee the investigation. He said the director-general of health and the federal health secretary were already at the PIMS hospital, one of Islamabad’s largest public hospitals.

Officials were in contact with the families, according to Kamal, who said the immediate priority was to support the parents and return the infants’ bodies to them.