Pakistan hospital fire kills 14 infants

A fire erupted in a hospital's maternity ward in Islamabad on Wednesday, killing 14 infants, Pakistani authorities said, with the prime minister calling for an investigation.

The fire broke out on the third floor of the Mother and Child Health Ward at the public Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), the Islamabad district office said in a statement.

The statement gave a death toll of 14, who according to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif were all infants.

Sharif and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi expressed "deep grief and sorrow over the deaths of 14 infants" in separate statements.

"Such a situation involving children is irreparable," the prime minister 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."

Authorities have not identified the cause of the fire.

Sohail Ashraf, the Islamabad chief commissioner, said the emergency call was made just before 7:00 am (0200 GMT), with rescue and police teams reaching the scene "immediately" and bringing the fire under control.

Outside the hospital, an AFP reporter saw a woman in tears and a man clear glass from two broken windows, as security guards stood at the entrance to the leading medical facility.

Fires in large buildings are frequent in Pakistan, often due to poor safety laws and building codes as well as lax enforcement.

In January, more than 65 people were killed in a shopping centre fire in the port city of Karachi.

At least 11 people were killed in another shopping mall fire in Karachi in 2023.

In 2021, at least 16 workers died after a factory fire in the same city.

In 2012, at least 250 labourers died at a garment factory in Baldia Town, in western Karachi, when a fire engulfed the facility. The building had no fire escape.