A man in tears outside the PIMS maternity ward, where a fire killed more than a dozen infants (AFP photo)
A fire erupted in a hospital maternity ward in Islamabad on Aug. 26 killing 14 infants, Pakistan authorities said, blaming a faulty air conditioner for the blaze.
The dawn fire broke out on the third floor of the Mother and Child Health Ward at the capital’s premier public hospital 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.
Witnesses described chaotic and harrowing scenes, including intense smoke and broken glass, a slow response from emergency services and guards reportedly preventing them from leaving the ward.
The door to the neonatal intensive care unit was locked, according to Jaweria, a woman who said she lost her infant in the blaze.
Another witness, who did not gave her name, said hospital security “were not letting them out and the guards were stopping them.”
“People had to break the door down and rescue teams had to break the windows to control the fire,” she added.
Prime Minister Sharif and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi expressed “deep grief and sorrow over the deaths of 14 infants” in separate statements.
“The circumstances that led to the incident should be thoroughly reviewed, those responsible should be identified and the strictest possible action should be taken,” the prime minister said.
PIMS spokeswoman Aneeza Jalil told AFP the fire was caused by an electrical fault, and “fire sparked from the AC.”
