A massive fire triggered by an air conditioning system explosion tore through the neonatal intensive care unit at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) early Tuesday, killing 14 infants. The blaze trapped newborns in their incubators, leaving hospital staff and parents helpless as smoke filled the ward within minutes.
Mustafa Kamal, visiting the site hours after the tragedy, described the scene as a “national catastrophe.” He questioned the hospital’s safety protocols, noting that recurring electrical faults in the facility had been reported by staff for months. “These were not just lives lost; it was institutional negligence that choked the breath out of these children,” Kamal told reporters outside the emergency wing.
Hospital administrators confirmed the fire originated from a short circuit in an AC unit, which quickly spread through the ward’s oxygen-rich environment. While emergency responders reached the scene, the intensity of the flames and the vulnerability of the patients meant that standard evacuation procedures proved insufficient.
The human cost is staggering. Distraught parents gathered in the PIMS courtyard, many waiting for hours to receive word on their children. Some families had been transferred from smaller clinics across the capital, seeking better care, only to be met with a disaster of this scale.
Health officials have announced the formation of a high-level committee to investigate the electrical maintenance logs at the facility. Preliminary reports suggest the AC unit in question had been flagged for repair twice in the last quarter, yet no technician had arrived to address the wiring issues.
The government has promised compensation for the affected families, but that offers little comfort to those standing in the hospital lobby. For the families, the focus remains on accountability.
“We don’t need committees that produce paper reports,” Kamal said. “We need the people responsible for ignoring those repair requests to face the law.”
As the facility remains cordoned off for forensic analysis, the death toll is feared to rise, with several other infants currently fighting for their lives in the trauma center.
