A fire erupted in a hospital maternity ward in Islamabad, killing 14 infants, Pakistan authorities said, blaming a faulty air conditioner for the blaze.
The dawn fire yesterday broke out on the third floor of the Mother and Child Health Ward at the public Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), the Islamabad district office said in a statement.
The statement gave a death toll of 14, who, according to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, were all infants.
He called for an investigation.
At the hospital, AFP saw a nurse call out the names of babies who had perished in the fire as families gathered outside.
Khurram Mehmood, 40, said he lost his three-day-old daughter in the blaze and that rescuers took hours to arrive.
“I lost my daughter. She was only three days old,” he said.
“My wife was in the ward. They took everyone out. We were sitting on the road waiting for help.”
A mother with black residue from the smoke on her hands stood crying outside the hospital as she held her 10-day-old baby in her arms.
“People were screaming. There was black smoke.
“We ran for our lives. Thank god my baby is safe,” Shagufta Parveen said.
An AFP reporter saw other families in tears and a man clearing glass from two broken windows as security guards stood at the entrance to the leading medical facility.
Prime Minister Sharif and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi expressed “deep grief and sorrow over the deaths of 14 infants” in separate statements.
“Such a situation involving children is irreparable,” the prime minister said.
“The circumstances that led to the incident should be thoroughly reviewed, those responsible should be identified and the strictest possible action should be taken.”
PIMS spokeswoman Aneeza Jalil said the fire was caused by an electrical fault and “fire sparked from the AC (air conditioner)”.
Sohail Ashraf, the Islamabad chief commissioner, said the emergency call was made just before 7am local time, with rescue and police teams reaching the scene “immediately” and bringing the fire under control.
Fires in large buildings are frequent in Pakistan, often due to poor safety laws and building codes as well as lax enforcement. — AFP
