- The fire broke out on Aug. 26 at the Mother and Child Health nursery, where 15 newborns were being treated in a unit designed for 10
- Islamabad police have launched criminal proceedings against nine hospital officials in connection with the blaze, health minister says
ISLAMABAD: The only newborn to survive last month’s deadly fire at a government hospital in Islamabad has died while being under treatment, a health official confirmed on Thursday
The Aug. 26 fire broke out at the Mother and Child Health nursery of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, or PIMS, where 15 medically dependent newborns were being treated in a unit designed for 10. Fourteen died and one survived
A nurse, Razia Noreen, had managed to rescue one newborn baby, who had been receiving treatment at PIMS, according to local media reports. The infant was on a ventilator and passed away late last night
“The only surviving child of PIMS nursery blaze has passed away,” Dr. Aneza Jalil, a spokesperson for the hospital, told Arab News on Thursday
A final inquiry report, issued on Tuesday, identified an 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 inquiry panel 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
Consequently, Islamabad police launched criminal proceedings against nine hospital officials in connection with the blaze, Health Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal told Arab News on Wednesday
“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.”
The minister said they have 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 percent 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.”
