Islamabad (GNP): Fourteen new born babies have reportedly been killed in a fire that broke out at PIMS Hospital in Islamabad.
According to details, rescue teams rushed to the hospital for rescue operation. According to rescue officials, ten women and seven children were rescued. Rescue officials said the fire has been brought under control.
An inquiry committee headed by the additional deputy commissioner general has been formed to investigate the incident.
Six fire brigade units and four ambulances were deployed to the site. The fire was brought under control promptly, while rescued children were shifted to the ICU for immediate treatment. Cooling and assessment operations were subsequently completed.
The district administration said the exact number of casualties and injuries was being verified by the assistant commissioner, police and rescue teams in coordination with the hospital administration.
Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi expressed deep grief and sorrow over the deaths of the newborns and extended his heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families.
“An extremely tragic and heartbreaking incident has occurred at PIMS,” Mohsin Naqvi said, adding that all sympathies were with the grieving families and that he stood with them in their hour of grief.
Meanwhile, the Islamabad Capital Territory administration has constituted a committee headed by the Additional Deputy Commissioner-General to investigate the cause of the fire, assess the rescue response and examine the effectiveness of fire-safety measures at the hospital.
The committee would also determine the circumstances leading to the incident and submit its findings.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed deep grief over the tragic death of 14 newborn infants in a fire incident inside the nursery of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) Hospital here.
In their separately issued statements, the president and the prime minister conveyed their profound sympathies to the bereaved families, describing the tragic loss of innocent lives as heartbreaking and an irreparable tragedy.
Calling the deaths of newborns a deeply painful and irreparable loss, President Zardari said that those responsible for the incident must be identified and held accountable according to the law.
He also directed for ensuring effective fire safety measures and emergency protocols in hospitals to safeguard patients, especially newborns.
Prime Minister Shehbaz, taking notice of the tragic incident, instructed authorities to conduct an immediate inquiry.
Also read: Sleep Disturbances Linked to Faster Biological Aging, Study Finds
“Such a situation involving children is an irreparable loss. The factors behind the incident must be thoroughly investigated, those responsible identified, and the strict action taken against them,” the prime minister instructed.
The president and the prime minister offered sincere condolences to the bereaved families of the innocent infants and prayed for strength to them to bear the irreparable loss.
Sohail Majeed is a Special Correspondent at The Diplomatic Insight. He has twelve plus years of experience in journalism & reporting. He covers International Affairs, Diplomacy, UN, Sports, Climate Change, Economy, Technology, and Health.
