ISLAMABAD: Police in Pakistan's capital Islamabad have launched criminal proceedings against nine medics in connection with a deadly fire at Islamabad’s largest public hospital that killed 14 newborn babies last month, Health Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal said on Wednesday.

The officials were nominated in a government inquiry into the Aug. 26 fire at the Mother and Child Health nursery of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), where 15 medically dependent newborns were being treated in a unit designed for 10. Fourteen babies died and one survived.

Eight medical officials were suspended after an initial inquiry, while a ninth official, Dr. Aneeza Jalil, the deputy executive director at PIMS, was identified in the final inquiry report that was made public on Tuesday.

The other officials include PIMS Executive Director Prof. Dr. Imran Sikandar, Joint Executive Directors Dr. Mutahir Shah and Dr. Owais Ali Shah, Neonatal Department head Prof. Dr. Sadia Riaz, Senior Registrar Dr. Nagham, Dr. Nausheela Amjad, Assistant Director for Security Muhammad Usman and Capital Development Authority Emergency Services Director-General Dr. Abdul Rehman.

“Our job was to write a letter to the home ministry to initiate the process for criminal proceeding against them. We had initiated that letter and the home ministry, the police station and all, they have started calling them (medical officials) and now they are evaluating that what sort of, you know, charges they want to put on them,” Health Minister Kamal told Arab News in an exclusive interview on Wednesday.

“The process is already there. It's already started.”

The final inquiry report, issued on Tuesday, identified the electrical supply cable of an air-conditioning unit as the most probable point of ignition, saying localized electrical heating likely damaged its insulation and ignited nearby combustible material.

But the committee said PIMS had been warned repeatedly about wider fire-safety deficiencies, including after a July 6 fire at its nursing hostel exposed problems with smoke detection, alarms, electrical inspections, evacuation, firefighting equipment and emergency planning. Those warnings were not turned into a comprehensive, time-bound and independently verified corrective program before the nursery blaze, it said.

After the initial inquiry last month, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had directed authorities to initiate both departmental and criminal proceedings against the officials who were believed to have demonstrated negligence.

Kamal said these nine individuals were unlikely to be reinstated.

“The investigation team and the committee have really gone through a detailed investigation and out of all the evidence, they have found guilty definitely. And the criminal proceeding has been started,” he said.

"It's not the matter of, you know, finding the facts anymore."

A senior police official, who requested anonymity, on Tuesday confirmed to Arab News that eight medical officials had been summoned to the Karachi Company police station in Islamabad to record their statements.

“We have recorded their statements and will send our report soon, fixing responsibility for the incident,” the official said, adding that a formal case would be registered in light of the police inquiry.

Asked if these officials would be arrested, Kamal said the decision rested with law enforcement agencies.

“Our job was to write a letter to the Ministry of Interior, which we have done,” he said.

The minister said they had taken all short-term safety measures, including the installation of fire safety equipment, at PIMS since the incident.

“Whatever recommendation they had made in preliminary report, we have done 100% compliance on that,” he said, adding that the final detailed report contained 34 instructions to ensure patient safety at public hospitals.

“Of those 34, you know, recommendations, there are some actions needed to be taken immediately and some are, you know, a bit long-term, you know, reforms and structural changes and all. So, we are working on every recommendation.”

He said a high-level government committee spent around 10 days at the hospital to identify areas that required improvement and management flaws that needed to be addressed.

“One thing is very sure that under the current management style, this PIMS cannot bring any benefit to anyone. I mean, it's going to be the same thing,” Kamal said, adding that the management would soon be overhauled in light of the findings of the inquiry.

He said the new safety measures and structural changes would be replicated across Islamabad and all Pakistani provinces would be advised to implement the same measures in public hospitals to avoid such incidents.