ISLAMABAD HOSPITAL FIRE THAT KILLED 14 BABIES HAD NO FIRE ALARMS, PROBE FINDS

An investigation into the fire that killed 14 newborn babies at Islamabad's Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences on 26 August has found the neonatal unit had no fire alarms, smoke detectors or sprinklers. A committee led by a retired senior civil servant found the blaze began with an electrical fault, likely a faulty air conditioning cable, but said "systemic and institutional failure" turned the spark into a catastrophe. Firefighters who reached the scene found escape routes locked or obstructed, the report found. An anonymous firefighter said rescuers broke through windows to get in because the doors were locked, and found ward doors locked once inside.

It found 15 medically fragile newborns, several needing oxygen or respiratory support, were in a 10-bed unit with two doctors and two nurses available. No rehearsed nursery-specific evacuation procedure existed, and combustible materials in the oxygen-supported ward intensified the fire and smoke. Footage showed a nurse raising the alarm at 6.38am, before a second nurse, named as Razia Noreen, carried out the only baby to survive. Staff responded within seconds, but emergency services were not notified until 6.54am, and rescue teams did not arrive until 7.01am.

Witnesses described confusion and smoke as the fire spread. Abdul Ghafoor, nearby visiting a relative, said he found the ward "filled with smoke, we could not see anything." Hivsa Walid, whose newborn niece was in the next ward, said they realised there was a fire when they saw smoke coming from the unit. The firefighter, who arrived once the blaze was out, said the equipment above the babies "had melted and collapsed onto them." The hospital has not commented on the findings; it has been approached for a response.