PIMS nursery fire: Technical fault suspected as NA panel seeks answers

Islamabad (Web Desk): Members of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination visited the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) on Thursday to examine the circumstances that led to the deadly fire in the hospital’s nursery.

Following an inspection of the affected area, NA health committee member Mahesh Kumar Malani said a technical problem could have been behind the blaze that claimed the lives of 14 newborns.

“We suspect that there was a technical fault in the ward,” said Malani while speaking to reporters after the committee visited the site.

Earlier, Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal had said that the fire appeared to have been triggered by a spark from an air conditioner.

Malani said hospital officials informed the committee that an air conditioner could have been the source of the fire, although this possibility had yet to be verified.

“We were told that the fire started from an air conditioner. We were also told that it was an old AC and had not been working for quite some time,” he said.

He said the committee would hold an emergency session to question the concerned authorities and determine what had happened.

“We are calling a committee meeting and have sought answers to our questions,” he said.

“This is an important matter. Once the report comes, we will tell who is responsible,” he added.

According to Malani, the CCTV recordings examined by the committee did not provide clear evidence about the point from which the fire originated. He said a nurse informed the members that hospital staff were performing their duties when the fire suddenly erupted.

“The CCTV video did not show where the fire started,” he said, noting that the affected ward was constructed in 1990.

“This Pims ward was built in 1990. There should not have been a nursery here. The affected nursery was not fit for keeping newborn babies,” he added.

Malani said investigators would also look into the condition and upkeep of the old nursery, along with whether suitably qualified staff had been placed in the relevant positions.

“It will also have to be seen whether the old nursery had been maintained,” he said.

He added that the precise reason for the fire was still unclear and that the committee would determine its next course of action after holding the emergency meeting and receiving the investigation report.

“We also need to see whether there was the right man for the right job in the hospital,” said Malani.

The tragic incident occurred on Wednesday morning when a fire swept through the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at PIMS, resulting in the deaths of 14 infants.

PIMS officials said 15 newborn babies were present in the nursery when the fire erupted, while rescuers managed to save only one child. The incident has since prompted questions over the cause of the blaze, the hospital’s response and the ongoing investigation.

The fire was reported at approximately 6:45am in the NICU located on the third floor of the Mother and Child Health (MCH) ward.

Rescue officials initially reported that the compressor of an air conditioner inside the nursery had exploded, leading to the fire.

However, the preliminary report prepared by the PIMS administration presented a different possibility, stating that a nebuliser displaying the amount of oxygen near an incubator had exploded.

The report further stated that footage from the facility showed flames coming from an air conditioner.

According to the preliminary findings, the oxygen supply subsequently caught fire, while smoke moved through the pipes and reached the infants’ breathing systems.

The report said the newborns died after the oxygen supply was disrupted and also suffered fatal burns during the blaze.

In a separate statement, Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said the fire resulted from a short circuit and that most of the infants died because of asphyxiation.