A faulty air conditioner sparked a blaze in an Islamabad maternity ward early Wednesday morning, claiming the lives of 14 infants as families waited hours for help to arrive.

The fire broke out just before 07:00 on the third floor of the Mother and Child Health Ward at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), a major public hospital in the capital.

Nurses called out the names of babies who had died as distraught families gathered outside the facility. Khurram Mehmood (40) told AFP he lost his three-day-old daughter in the blaze.

“I lost my daughter. She was only three days old,” he said. “My wife was in the ward. They took everyone out. We were sitting on the road waiting for help.”

Families escape through smoke

Shagufta Parveen, holding her 10-day-old baby, stood outside the hospital with black smoke residue on her hands.

“People were screaming. There was black smoke. We ran for our lives. Thank god my baby is safe,” she said.

An AFP reporter saw families in tears and a man clearing glass from broken windows whilst security guards stood at the hospital entrance.

Prime minister calls for investigation

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed “deep grief and sorrow” and ordered a thorough investigation into the incident.

“Such a situation involving children is irreparable,” he said. “The circumstances that led to the incident should be thoroughly reviewed, those responsible should be identified and the strictest possible action should be taken.”

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi also expressed condolences in a separate statement.

PIMS spokeswoman Aneeza Jalil confirmed the fire started from an electrical fault in an air conditioning unit.

Safety failures plague Pakistan

Fires in large buildings occur frequently across Pakistan due to poor safety laws, inadequate building codes and weak enforcement.

In January, more than 65 people died in a shopping centre fire in Karachi. At least 11 people were killed in another Karachi mall fire in 2023.

A factory fire in the port city killed at least 16 workers in 2021. In 2012, at least 250 labourers died at a garment factory in Baldia Town when fire engulfed the building, which had no fire escape.

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