ISLAMABAD: Islamabad’s Capital Development Authority (CDA) sealed three buildings on Sunday for non-compliance with fire and life safety enforcements, state media reported, as Pakistan’s capital intensifies safety measures following a hospital blaze that killed 14 newborns.
CDA authorities sealed the Shaheed-e-Millat Secretariat, State Life Building and Trade Development Authority of Pakistan buildings in Islamabad’s Blue Area on Sunday, the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported. The buildings failed to address fire safety observations issued earlier by the CDA’s Fire and Emergency Services Directorate, it added.
Pakistani authorities have intensified efforts to ensure fire safety mechanisms are in place after a fire broke out at a a nursery in the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad on Wednesday. The fire killed 14 newborns in one of Pakistan’s largest public hospitals, raising questions over fire precautions and emergency response measures in place at the facility.
“CDA Chairman Sohail Ashraf has directed the concerned departments to adopt a zero-tolerance policy toward serious fire safety violations and ensure strict compliance with safety standards,” APP said.
Ashraf said protection of human lives was the CDA’s top priority, adding that no building or institution would be allowed to compromise public safety by ignoring essential fire prevention and emergency response measures.
The report said CDA’s Fire & Emergency Services Directorate has been conducting inspections of buildings across the capital to identify deficiencies related to firefighting equipment, emergency exits, evacuation arrangements and other life safety measures.
The CDA has said buildings that fail to comply with mandatory safety requirements would face action under the relevant rules and regulations, the report said.
The cause of the fire has not been ascertained yet, despite earlier claims from Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal that the room caught fire due to an electric spark from an air conditioner.
A high-level committee formed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday presented its findings to the premier. While the findings have not been made public, a senior official told Arab News that the committee recommended several punitive measures, including the removal of key officials, most notably the Executive Director of PIMS Dr. Rana Imran Sikandar.
A separate incident report prepared by the CDA this week concluded that emergency escape routes were locked or obstructed when the blaze broke out, describing life-safety arrangements there as entirely inadequate. PIMS has disputed these findings, maintaining that all exits were open and operational.
Pakistani government officials, including Kamal, have vowed that any person found to have been negligent of their duties during the blaze will be held accountable.
