PIMS Nursery Fire: Questions Over Safety and Response

PIMS Nursery Fire – A fire that swept through the newborn nursery at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad on August 26, killing 14 babies, has raised serious questions about fire safety, emergency preparedness, staff response and the hospital’s ability to protect its most vulnerable patients.

The fire broke out in the Mother and Child Ward at around 6:38 a.m., when 15 newborns were reportedly present in the nursery. According to the hospital and government officials, only one baby could be rescued alive.

The tragedy has since generated conflicting accounts over what happened inside the nursery, whether the entrance was accessible during the emergency, how quickly rescue teams arrived and whether longstanding fire-safety concerns at the hospital had been adequately addressed.

PIMS Nursery Fire – How did the fire start?

According to the initial report prepared by the PIMS administration, a spark occurred in the nursery at approximately 6:38 a.m., after which the fire rapidly intensified.

Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal, while briefing the media and referring to CCTV footage, said the spark appeared to have originated inside an air conditioner. A fireball then fell to the floor and, according to his account, the entire room was engulfed in flames within about a minute.

CCTV footage reportedly shows two doctors and two nurses leaving the room at around 6:39 a.m. to seek assistance.

The Health Minister also said that 14 of the 15 newborns were connected to oxygen tubes, prompting investigators to examine whether the presence of oxygen contributed to the rapid spread of the fire.

The precise cause of the blaze, however, has yet to be established.

PIMS Nursery Fire – Who was inside the nursery?

One of the most contentious issues is the presence and response of hospital staff at the time of the fire.

PIMS Executive Director Dr. Rana Imran Sikandar said two doctors, four nurses and other staff members were present in the nursery when the fire broke out. Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Tariq Fazal Chaudhry also confirmed that staff were present.

The hospital administration maintains that staff members attempted to rescue the newborns and that security personnel subsequently joined the effort.

However, accounts from some parents and eyewitnesses differ.

Some affected families have alleged that no staff were present inside the nursery when the fire started, while others claimed that staff members came out of the area and that parents and other people attempted to help on their own.

One affected father also alleged that only one entrance was being used while other access routes were closed.

These conflicting accounts are now among the issues expected to be examined by the inquiry committees.

PIMS Nursery Fire – Was the nursery door locked?

The question of access to the nursery has become another major point of controversy.

Some parents claimed that the nursery door was locked during the emergency and that people attempting to enter faced difficulties.

PIMS officials and the Health Minister have rejected the suggestion that the door was completely locked. They said access to the nursery was restricted for security reasons.

Hospital authorities said additional security measures had been introduced because of previous incidents involving the theft of newborn babies.

The controversy, however, raises a broader question: if access to the nursery was restricted under normal circumstances, what emergency mechanism was available to allow staff and rescuers to enter immediately during a fire?

That question will ultimately have to be answered through the investigation.

How quickly did rescue teams arrive?

There are also differing accounts about the emergency response time.

According to the Islamabad administration, the fire emergency was reported at approximately 6:45 a.m., with rescue teams arriving around seven minutes later.

Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry said rescue teams reached PIMS within approximately six minutes of receiving the alert.

Some eyewitnesses and parents, however, claimed that the response took considerably longer.

Determining the actual timeline will therefore be crucial. Emergency call records, CCTV footage and rescue-service logs could establish when the fire was reported, when the response team was dispatched and exactly when it reached the hospital.

Longstanding fire-safety concerns

The tragedy has also brought renewed attention to PIMS’s fire-safety arrangements.

A report from the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad’s Fire and Disaster Management Department indicated that PIMS had been issued several notices since 2018 over deficiencies in fire-prevention, fire-protection and life-safety arrangements.

A notice issued in 2024 reportedly identified outstanding fire-safety requirements and gave the hospital three months to complete the necessary measures.

The report also highlighted the need for trained personnel, round-the-clock monitoring of fire-safety systems and evacuation training.

Health Minister Mustafa Kamal, however, rejected the impression that PIMS had simply ignored previous notices. He said the hospital had complied with the requirements and had firefighting equipment and systems available.

He nevertheless acknowledged that PIMS was operating under considerable pressure, with the patient load exceeding its existing capacity.

CDA report raises further questions

An initial report by the Capital Development Authority’s Fire Brigade reportedly identified shortcomings in fire and life-safety arrangements in the PIMS nursery.

According to the report, emergency exit routes were either blocked or obstructed, while firefighters allegedly encountered difficulties during the initial stages of the rescue operation.

The report also identified short circuit or plug overload as possible causes of the fire, although the final cause remains subject to investigation.

PIMS administration has disputed these observations, maintaining that its fire-safety system was adequate and that rescue teams did not face obstacles during their operation.

The contradictory assessments make the forthcoming inquiry particularly significant.

Government orders inquiries

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered an immediate investigation into the incident.

Following a meeting chaired by the Prime Minister, Federal Secretary for Health Aslam Ghori was suspended amid concerns over the performance of the relevant authorities.

A high-level inquiry committee headed by former Federal Secretary Shahid Khan was also established. The committee has been tasked with determining how the fire started, reconstructing the sequence of events, examining the response of hospital staff and emergency agencies, and assessing whether established procedures for evacuating newborns were followed.

The committee has been directed to submit an initial report within 48 hours and a final report within five days.

Separately, the Islamabad district administration has formed an eight-member inquiry committee to investigate the cause of the fire, fire-safety arrangements, emergency response time and the overall rescue operation.

Health minister says he is ready for accountability

Mustafa Kamal has said he is prepared to face accountability if the investigation establishes negligence or failure on his part.

He has also said that no individual found responsible for negligence will be given any concession.

According to the minister, CCTV footage and other evidence are available and should help investigators establish responsibility.

Asked about calls for his resignation, he said he would accept whatever decision the Prime Minister makes, while maintaining that responsibility should be determined only after the investigation is completed.

A test of the state’s priorities

The deaths of 14 newborns have transformed the PIMS incident from a hospital fire into a wider question about the condition of public healthcare and the state’s priorities.

The immediate investigation must establish the technical cause of the fire and determine whether any individual or institution was negligent.

But the larger questions are more difficult.

Why did a fire-safety issue become a recurring concern at one of the country’s largest public hospitals?

Were previous safety deficiencies actually addressed?

Were emergency exits accessible?

Was hospital staff adequately trained to evacuate newborns during a fire?

Was the nursery designed to allow rapid evacuation while maintaining adequate security?

And could the deaths have been prevented if the hospital’s emergency systems had worked exactly as they were supposed to?

These questions matter because the tragedy is not only about what happened at 6:38 a.m. on August 26. It is also about what may have happened — or failed to happen — in the years before that morning.

The incident has also triggered a broader debate over public spending.

Pakistan continues to spend billions of rupees on major projects, official privileges, publicity campaigns and other government expenditures, while basic safety and emergency infrastructure in public institutions remains a subject of concern.

The question, therefore, is not simply why the state spends money.

It is where it chooses to spend it.

When the safety of newborn babies in one of the capital’s largest public hospitals can become a matter of controversy, questions about spending priorities inevitably become part of the conversation.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has himself acknowledged that the country’s existing system has faced serious failures and that problems cannot continue to be addressed through the same ineffective mechanisms.

The PIMS tragedy now presents an uncomfortable test of that assertion.

If the system is failing, who ultimately pays the price for that failure?

At PIMS, the answer is already painfully clear: 14 families have lost their newborn children.

The investigation may determine how the fire started. But its real test will be whether it can explain why a fire in a hospital nursery was allowed to become a tragedy of this scale — and whether anything will actually change before the next emergency begins.