Pakistan Confirms Islamabad Hospital Nursery Had No Fire Alarms or Sprinklers Before 14 Babies Died

A government inquiry has confirmed what survivors and firefighters said all along: the neonatal ward at Pakistan's Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad had no fire alarms and no sprinklers when a blaze swept through it on August 26, killing 14 newborns. Only one baby, out of 15 in the unit, survived.

The report, from an investigative committee led by retired civil servant Shahid Khan, found what it called "systemic and institutional failure" turned a routine electrical spark into what the committee described as a catastrophe, according to the BBC. Investigators say the most probable ignition source was an overheating electrical cable in the ward's air conditioner, though the exact defect remains unresolved.

An anonymous firefighter told the BBC that entering the building was "extremely difficult" because doors were locked. Rescue crews had to break windows to get in, and even then found the doors leading to the ward itself locked. "The medical equipment above [the babies] had melted and collapsed onto them," he said.

CCTV reviewed by investigators shows the fire consumed the ward almost instantly. A nurse is seen running for help at 6:38 a.m., returning 20 seconds later with a security guard. Nurse Razia Noreen then rushed in and emerged with the one baby who survived. Within a minute, the report says, smoke had blacked out the camera entirely. According to CNN, the fire engulfed the entire nursery in roughly two minutes.

The response afterward was slow by the inquiry's own account. Emergency services weren't called until six minutes after the fire started, and the first responders didn't arrive for another 15 minutes after that, CNN and Arab News Pakistan both reported. Supervisory staff were not on duty at the time. Of the hospital's 13 standard operating procedures, only two subsections addressed fires or emergencies at all, according to Gulf News.

Arab News Pakistan reported that the briefing given to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the ward was operating in violation of all relevant World Health Organization safety rules. Gulf News also noted that a separate fire had broken out at the PIMS nursing hostel just a month earlier, in July, and no serious fire-safety upgrades followed.

Sharif ordered the suspension of eight officials on August 30 and directed both departmental and criminal proceedings against them, his office said. Those named include PIMS Executive Director Prof. Dr. Imran Sikandar, neonatal department head Prof. Dr. Sadia Riaz, two joint executive directors, two other doctors, the hospital's assistant director for security, and the Capital Development Authority's emergency services director. "Those guilty of criminal negligence do not deserve any leniency," Sharif said, per Arab News Pakistan. He also ordered action against the private security firm contracted to the hospital and approved 5 million rupees, about $18,000, in compensation for each family that lost a child. Nurse Razia Noreen is set to receive the Sitara-i-Khidmat, a state honor, for pulling the surviving infant out.

A fair reading of the government's response gives it credit for moving fast. Within four days of the fire, Sharif had already dismissed Health Secretary Aslam Ghauri, ordered a committee, gotten an interim report, suspended eight named officials, and approved compensation and an award. It was a faster public accounting than many governments manage after a mass-casualty failure.

But a Pakistan Today editorial argues the suspensions amount to the appearance of accountability without touching the underlying culture. The editorial notes PIMS is a federal hospital in the capital, the most tightly administered facility in the country, and asks how basic fire alarms and sprinklers could be absent there if nowhere else. "Transfers and suspensions offer the appearance of accountability while leaving the underlying culture untouched," the editorial states.

That critique gained more weight days later. A separate fire-safety assessment of 22 government hospitals in Sindh province, ordered by provincial Health Minister Dr. Azra Fazal Pechuho, found the same pattern repeated across the country, according to 24NewsHD. Civil Hospital Karachi and Jinnah Hospital, a 2,208-bed facility, both reported having zero fire alarms and zero sprinklers. At the National Institute of Child Health, 40 of 135 fire extinguishers were found faulty and no fire alarm existed at all. At Lyari General Hospital, just 20 of 700 extinguishers were functional.

PIMS has not issued a public comment responding to the inquiry's findings, according to the BBC. Criminal proceedings against the eight suspended officials have not yet produced charges or a trial date. Whether Pakistan's federal and provincial governments follow through with mandatory fire-alarm and sprinkler installations, rather than another round of suspensions after the next fire, remains unclear.