Staff Correspondent
ISLAMABAD: In a tragic incident, 14 newborns were killed after a fire broke out in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad on Wednesday morning.
According to sources, the fire started at around 6:45am after an air-conditioning compressor exploded inside the nursery located on the third floor of the Mother and Child Hospital (MCH).
The mother of a deceased baby said there was no staff and rescuers turned up an hour after the fire.
Hospital sources said 15 newborn babies were present in the nursery when the fire erupted. An aunt of one of the babies managed to rescue the newborn, while the remaining 14 newborns died in the incident. Sources said the casualties occured as there were no staff and the doors of the NICU were locked.
Pims spokesperson Dr Aneeza Jalil told media that 15 babies were in the ward. Asked about the cause of the incident, she said that the fire appeared to have erupted due to a short circuit.“ At least one baby was saved by a doctor,” she claimed.
A man told media that his wife had given birth to a baby boy at about 4am and the newborn was kept in the nursery. He said at about 5:30am a fire broke out and he found the doors of the nursery locked from outside.
There was no staff and he and others managed to break the locks. He said he brought out four to five burnt babies. He claimed that there were at least 100 newborns in the nursery at the time of the incident.
PIMS executive director told media that due to fears of babies being stolen the nursery was locked as a security measure.
Malik Israr, whose niece was admitted to the gynae ward, told Dawn that it was unfortunate the nursery was housed in a building in which repair and renovation work was ongoing.“
After the fire erupted, they told patients to vacate the building. Women who had just given birth had to rush down the stairs from the second floor, he said.
Sources alleged serious shortcomings in the hospital’s fire-safety arrangements. They said fire hoses lacked proper couplings, there was reportedly no water available at a fire point, and some emergency evacuation routes were locked.
The sources also alleged that no doctors or other staff were present in the incubation centre when the fire started.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed authorities to conduct an immediate investigation, his office said.
“Those responsible should be identified, and the strictest action should be taken,” Sharif’s office said in a statement.