AROUND 7 a.m. on 26th August a devastating fire broke out suddenly in the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) on third floor of the mother and child health ward and according to the Federal Health Minister fire was ignited after an explosion in an air conditioner and because of ample oxygen supply in the area fire quickly spread and engulfed the entire ward. The tragic incident took life of 15 new born babies who were kept in incubators. This fire incident is probably the ugliest and deadliest incident in any government hospital where health care is subsidised yet medical facilities are woefully under resourced and leave a lot to be desired.

CCTV camera footage available shows a completely gutted and ward with smoke rising from the area. There were 16 infants in the ward and only one of them managed to be rescued alive from the carnage. Parents of the victims were devastated and heartbroken one such mother was Javeria who lamented “It was a gynecology ward … there was no doctor, no nurse”, she said, adding that bodies of the children were taken away “in boxes” and women did not get chance to see them. It is not God’s will… I don’t accept it”, she said. The Federal health minister denied the accusations that no staff was........

© Pakistan Observer