ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia this week expressed condolences over a fire that broke out at an Islamabad state hospital and killed 14 newborns, a statement from its foreign ministry said, expressing sympathy for the families of the deceased in the wake of the tragedy.
Fourteen newborn babies were killed on Wednesday morning after an electric spark on the third floor of the maternal and child health ward at the state-run Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) caused a fire to engulf the entire room.
Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal acknowledged that the hospital did not have a sprinkler system, saying staff had instead used 26 fire extinguishers in an attempt to contain the blaze. PIMS later said 35 available fire extinguishers had been used by staff. The hospital also said staff rescued one baby from the nursery and four from an adjacent room, along with three mothers.
Reacting to the situation, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif suspended Federal Health Secretary Aslam Ghori and constituted a high-level inquiry committee on Wednesday. Kamal has called for a transparent inquiry into the incident and said he would be willing to face accountability if any negligence on his part is found by the committee.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s sincere condolences and sympathy to the families of the deceased, and to the government and people of the brotherly Islamic Republic of Pakistan, following the tragic fire at PIMS Hospital in the capital, Islamabad, which resulted in the deaths of a number of newborn babies,” the Saudi foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
The Saudi foreign ministry said it stands with the government and people of Pakistan and wishes its people continued security and safety.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei also expressed condolences to Pakistan over the deaths of the newborns in the PIMS fire.
“He prayed for patience for the bereaved parents and wished those injured a speedy recovery,” Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency said in a report on Wednesday.
The British High Commission in Pakistan also expressed grief at the “heartbreaking” loss of lives in the incident.
“Our deepest condolences and thoughts are with the parents and families at this unimaginably difficult time,” the commission said in a statement.
The Turkish embassy in Pakistan expressed solidarity with the government over the PIMS fire.
“We are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of newborn lives in today’s fire at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) Hospital in Islamabad,” it said.
FIRE PRECAUTIONS, ACCOUNTABILITY
Questions over fire precautions and the emergency response intensified throughout Wednesday as federal and local authorities launched separate investigations into the disaster.
While Sharif formed a high-level committee to probe the incident, the Islamabad district magistrate constituted a fact-finding committee.
The fact-finding committee has been tasked with determining the exact cause of the fire, assessing whether adequate and functional fire-safety measures were in place and evaluating the response time and effectiveness of rescue and firefighting operations.
The magistrate’s committee has been asked to present its report within 24 hours.
The PIMS fire took place months after Islamabad authorities identified widespread shortcomings in fire-safety compliance across the capital. A survey of 6,500 public and private buildings, including 300 government facilities, found most had not obtained approval for fire-safety plans or been issued completion and fire-safety certificates, according to the Capital Development Authority.
Pakistan’s capital city has dedicated fire-prevention regulations, while health care facilities are required under regulatory standards to maintain fire-safety plans covering prevention, detection, suppression and safe evacuation.
