Composite story
Fire in Islamabad hospital nursery kills 14 newborns
Islamabad, Islamabad Capital Territory, PakistanPublished 26 Aug 2026
Imran.doctor / Wikimedia Commons, public domain · source
A blaze in the neonatal unit at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences killed 14 of 15 infants. Officials blamed an air-conditioner spark; parents described locked doors and a slow rescue.
Fourteen newborns died Wednesday in a fire in the neonatal nursery at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad's largest public hospital. Officials said an air-conditioning unit sparked around 6:38 a.m. and oxygen at the incubators spread the blaze; one of 15 infants in the ward was rescued. Parents said doors were locked and rescuers took hours; hospital and city officials said exits were open, staff were on duty, and crews arrived within minutes. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif suspended health secretary Aslam Ghauri and ordered inquiries.
Disputed opinions
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At least 14 babies die in Pakistan hospital fire
Published 26 Aug 2026 accessed 26 Aug 2026
Facts
Kamal said the babies in the ward were in incubators or on oxygen equipment.
Chaudhry said some of the babies were only three hours old.
Oxygen is not flammable on its own but can make a fire burn hotter and faster.
Talal Chaudhry said some families identified the dead by wristbands or by age.
Its maternal and child health unit has 156 beds.
Opinion
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At least 14 newborn babies die in fire at Pakistan hospital's maternity ward
Published 26 Aug 2026 accessed 26 Aug 2026
Facts
The hospital said the fire was immediately brought under control and children were shifted to intensive care.
Opinion
Khan said it was hard to describe this terrible moment.
'No one can understand the pain:' Fire in maternity ward kills at least 14 newborn babies in Pakistan's capital
Published 26 Aug 2026 accessed 26 Aug 2026
Facts
Hospital workers rescued one child, the sources said.
CDA sources told CNN hospital authorities closed the main gates after the fire, delaying rescue.
Hospital security then gave first responders the wrong location, the sources said.
Faruqui said heads must roll and those responsible must be taken to task.
PIMS's website says its mission is to be a premier research-intensive medical university.
A June 2022 fire at a Lahore children's hospital destroyed medicine, local media reported.
Opinion
The father said no one can understand the pain he is going through.
MNA Sharmila Sahibah Faruqui called the tragedy shameful and unforgivable.
Locked inside: Grief and anger as Pakistan hospital fire kills 14 newborns
Published 26 Aug 2026 accessed 26 Aug 2026
Facts
District administration said the first call was at 6:45 a.m. and crews arrived within seven minutes.
A June 2024 fire at Sahiwal Teaching Hospital killed 11 babies.
His station was told at 6:55 a.m. and a video on arrival was timestamped 7:06 a.m.
A father of one victim submitted a DNA sample at the hospital morgue.
Maryam Nawaz ordered arrests after inquiries found Sahiwal's fire extinguishers had expired.
Executive director Rana Imran Sikandar said two doctors and four nurses were on duty in ICU when the fire began.
The Mother and Child Hospital at PIMS has an older wing and a newly constructed wing.
Two inquiry committees were formed, one by the district administration and one by the PM's office.
Opinion
Waqar blamed the hospital for negligence and failing to protect newborns.
14 infants killed in fire at Pims' gynae ward in Islamabad
Published 26 Aug 2026 accessed 26 Aug 2026
Facts
Citing a preliminary report, the Pims statement said the incident was "initially caused by a spark inside nursery at 06:38am and within seconds a massive fir…
"The fire was immediately brought under control and the children were immediately shifted to the intensive care unit," it said, adding that 14 children "were…
Health Minister Mustafa Kamal, who reached Islamabad from Karachi in the afternoon, vowed that "no one responsible for negligence, including me, will be spar…
It said two doctors and two nurses on duty inside the nursery responded "immediately and called security staff, who joined in and tried to get in twice [to b…
It said that rescue teams rushed to the scene, with six fire brigade vehicles and four ambulances taking part in the rescue operation
However, the hospital disputed this in a statement issued later in the evening
"Besides immediate response, staff managed rescue of 73 other admitted patients in the adjacent Gynae ward on the same floor within minutes," it added
The hospital asserted that "available fire safety equipment installed, including 35 fire extinguishers, were all utilised by the staff to contain the situati…
The federal minister was also questioned about fire safety standards at Pims, with a reporter pointing out that the hospital had been issued notices for the …
When a reporter asked about his early morning statement over the lack of adequate facilities at Pims and "why in his 2-2.5 years as a health minister, no imp…
"What I said in the morning has to be seen within a certain parameter
Among the victims were the twin daughters of Bahadur Khan, a vegetable seller, The New York Times reported
According to the PMO, a high-level inquiry committee, headed by former interior secretary Shahid Khan, has launched an investigation
Subsequently, Captain (retired) Muhammad Mahmood, a BS-21 officer of the Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS), was appointed to the post of health secretary…
The inquiry committee will submit an interim report to the prime minister within 48 hours, containing recommendations for immediate action
Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry insisted that there had not been any delay in the arrival of rescue teams and defended the district administra…
Rehman said the Pims' executive director must "answer why the system here keeps being akin to gross negligence"
Pims, established in 1985, is Islamabad's biggest public sector hospital
Meanwhile, PPP leader Nayyar Hussain Bokhari, who reached Pims along with Senator Sherry Rehman and others, demanded that the head of the MCH be removed
Chaudhry said that the bodies of all 14 infants had been handed over to their families
"Totally gutted
United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (Unicef) called for an urgent review as it expressed grief over the incident
"The association reiterates that healthcare facilities are designed to protect and restore human lives, yet administrative failure and regulatory oversight l…
It recalled that similar tragic incidents had occurred in Lahore's Services Hospital in June 2012, the National Institute of Child Health (NICH) in Karachi i…
"The death of newborn children in a place entrusted with their treatment and care is deeply distressing and raises serious questions about safety and emergen…
Civil Society Network Pakistan (CSNP) called upon Federal Constitution Court's (FCC) Chief Justice Aminuddin Khan to take immediate notice on a suo motu basi…
Opinion
"Give me my child back," Jaweria, who lost her newborn, said outside the hospital. "I want justice."
Bokhari said it was not just negligence but rather criminal negligence and should not be ignored
"The health ministry now has no justification for taking public funds
"Honestly, I would have resigned on the spot," Rehman added later
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari wrote on X: "Mothers do not keep their children in the womb for nine months just so that, due to someone's negligence, th…
In its statement, the Islamabad Citizens Network (ICN) said, "This is not merely an unfortunate accident; it is a national tragedy in which innocent newborns…