ISLAMABAD: Fourteen infants were killed in a fire that broke out in the gynaecology ward of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) early on Wednesday.
Footage showed rescue workers using ladders to reach broken windows to access the affected area and grief-stricken women sitting on the ground outside the hospital. An AFP reporter saw a woman in tears and a man clear glass from two broken windows, as security guards stood at the entrance to the medical facility.
Several witnesses, their hands and faces blackened from the smoke, told AFP they waited hours for help from the emergency services. They were forced to smash through windows to try and get to the neonatal intensive care unit.
Others said they came across locked doors and alleged guards prevented those inside the building from leaving as the fire raged.
However, the hospital disputed this in a statement issued later in the evening. “All emergency exits were fully open and operational,” it asserted.
In a statement, the Islamabad administration said that the fire broke out on the third floor of the Mother and Child Hospital’s ward. It said that rescue teams rushed to the scene, with six fire brigade vehicles and four ambulances taking part in the rescue operation.
“The fire was immediately brought under control and the children were immediately shifted to the intensive care unit,” it said, adding that 14 children “were completely burnt”.
Pims Spokesperson Dr Aneeza Jalil told Dawn that 15 babies were in the ward. “At least one baby was saved by a doctor,” she said.
Health Minister Mustafa Kamal, who reached Islamabad from Karachi in the afternoon, vowed that “no one responsible for negligence, including me, will be spared”.
“The tragic fire incident at Pims MCH Centre, resulting in the loss of precious neonatal lives, is deeply heartbreaking,” the public hospital said.
Citing a preliminary report, the Pims statement said the incident was “initially caused by a spark inside nursery at 06:38am and within seconds a massive fire erupted due to oxygen points at each incubator”.
It said two doctors and two nurses on duty inside the nursery responded “immediately and called security staff, who joined in and tried to get in twice [to bring] babies out until 06:39am, when a huge blast occurred and ceilings fell down”.
The statement said the duty staff managed to rescue a baby in the nursery and four in an adjacent room, along with three mothers.
“Besides immediate response, staff managed rescue of 73 other admitted patients in the adjacent Gynae ward on the same floor within minutes,” it added.
The hospital asserted that “available fire safety equipment installed, including 35 fire extinguishers, were all utilised by the staff to contain the situation”.
Health minister vows accountability
Speaking to reporters in Islamabad, the health minister said he will present himself to his superiors for accountability.
Providing details of the incident, Kamal said: “At 6:38am, it can be seen in the CCTV footage that there was a spark in the AC, then a fireball could be seen erupting out of it and landing on the floor of the ward. In one minute, at 6:39am, four people, including two nurses and two doctors, could be seen rushing for help and around the same time, the whole room was engulfed in flames”.
The health minister said the incident was being investigated by “experts, different institutions including us”, adding that “nothing will remain hidden and all facts will be unearthed”.
He continued: “Apparently, it seems that 14 out of the 15 infants were connected to oxygen tubes and it was that oxygen which caught flame.”
Kamal reiterated that the “heart-wrenching” incident will be investigated and warned that “if there was any negligence, then as I said, we will not spare them, including myself”.
The minister further said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had instructed him “not to speak about certain issues”. He said he would be meeting the premier and that the two had been in touch.
“Everyone is on board, and the findings will be presented,” he said.
On being asked if he was going to tender his resignation, the health minister said, “As I have said before, whoever is responsible [..] they will not be spared. I have said what I can, and I wish I could say more, but the prime minister is my boss, and whatever his orders will be, I can only say that.”
The federal minister was also questioned about fire safety standards at Pims, with a reporter pointing out that the hospital had been issued notices for the past eight years.
Kamal claimed that the hospital had ensured compliance each time a notice had been issued in the past, pointing out that the blaze was contained with “26 fire extinguishers available in the building”.
When a reporter asked about his early morning statement over the lack of adequate facilities at Pims and “why in his 2-2.5 years as a health minister, no improvement had been made”, the minister, getting visibly frustrated, said, “If it has been 2-2.5 years, then feel free to shoot me” and clarified that he had only been at his position for one year and two months.
“What I said in the morning has to be seen within a certain parameter. I was saying that even if this did not happen, there are still challenges at the hospital. It has a capacity of 200-300 OPDs, and today, it has a footfall of over 9,000 people”.
He maintained that he was merely presenting facts. “I am not saying that everything is ideal.”
When pointed out that it was his responsibility to upgrade the facility, Kamal acknowledged his role and said, “We have to do it, but things cannot be ideal given the current scenario, but if we go into that, the conversation will take a different turn”.
The minister reiterated that every responsible person will be held accountable. “If I am willing to present myself for accountability, then no one else is left.
“Wherever there has been negligence, we will fix it,” he said. Noting that such an incident should not have happened, he said: “Will get to its root cause and ensure prevention in the future.”
The minister was also asked about reports that the door of the ward was locked, to which he said that access to the ward was limited and guarded due to “instances of people stealing newborn babies a couple of years back”.
“You would not see that anywhere else in the world, but we have the issue, so the door had to be manned with a guard,” Kamal explained.
During his media talk, the minister got into a verbal altercation with an individual who asked when action would be taken against those responsible. As the individual got louder, the minister repeatedly gestured to him to come forward and said, “Sir, come here and talk to me.
