Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered the suspension and criminal prosecution of eight officials following a fire at the neonatal unit of a public hospital in the capital Islamabad that killed 14 newborns, according to a statement from the Prime Minister's Office on Saturday.
The order came after an investigative committee submitted its preliminary report on the incident at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS). The fire broke out at nearly 7 a.m. Wednesday at the Maternal and Child Health Center, starting in the room for newborns before rapidly spreading through oxygen supply points attached to each incubator.
The flames were contained to the nursery area on the third floor, but officials said it spread so quickly that staff managed to rescue only 1 of the 15 infants being cared for there. "The death of these innocent children is a heart-wrenching tragedy that has saddened the entire nation," Sharif said, vowing that those responsible would face "severe punishment."
The eight suspended officials, named in the statement from the Prime Minister's Office, include the hospital's executive director, two deputy executive directors, the head of the neonatal department, two senior doctors, a security official, and the head of emergency services for the Capital Development Authority. Sharif also approved action against the company responsible for hospital security and its officials. He appointed the executive director of the National Institute of Health as acting director of PIMS in the interim.
The preliminary investigation submitted to the Prime Minister this week found that the hospital had no significant fire safety protocols, with only 2 of PIMS's 13 standard operating procedures referencing fire or emergency situations. The report noted that supervisory staff were absent when the fire started, with only two nurses, a female security guard, and a duty staff member present in the area.
Emergency services were not called until six minutes after the fire began, and the first firefighters arrived 15 minutes after receiving the call. The investigative board also noted that a separate fire had occurred at the hospital's nursing dormitory just a month earlier without leading to any safety improvements.
A nurse named Razia Noreen pulled one child to safety before the flames engulfed the area, according to the report. Sharif awarded her the honorary Sitara-i-Khidmat medal for public service, along with a cash reward of 1 million rupees (nearly $3,500). Health Minister Mustafa Kamal called Pakistan's health system "rotten" and supported a parliamentary inquiry, while the government pledged compensation of 5 million rupees (about $17,700) to each affected family.
