Fire at Islamabad hospital claims the lives of 15 infants
ISLAMABAD — At least 15 infants were killed when a fire broke out at a state-run hospital in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, set off by a fault in air-conditioning systems, reports BritPanorama.
The blaze started around 7 a.m. at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), occurring on the third floor of the hospital’s mother and child health ward. The incident is among the deadliest hospital fires in recent years in the country, where government health care is subsidized but facilities are under-resourced and overburdened while watchdogs have frequently criticized state-run facilities as mismanaged.
There were 16 newborns in the ward when the fire broke out; one of them was rescued. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed authorities to conduct an immediate investigation, his office announced.
“Those responsible should be identified, and the strictest action should be taken,” Sharif’s office stated. The ward has since been cordoned off and ambulances were seen outside the hospital building, as witnesses reported. PIMS, centrally located in Islamabad, is one of the city’s main public hospitals. Jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan was briefly treated there last week.
