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🇪🇬 Egypt /Health & Science

Eight officials suspended after probe into Pakistan hospital fire that killed 14 newborns

From Egypt Independent · () English

Summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire Official statement Under investigation
  • Pakistan suspended eight officials and ordered possible criminal proceedings after a fire killed 14 newborns at an Islamabad hospital.
  • An interim inquiry found that the nursery lacked fire alarms and sprinklers, emergency procedures were limited, supervisors were absent and emergency responders arrived after delays.
  • The government approved compensation of 5 million rupees for each bereaved family and a state award for a nurse who saved one baby.

Pakistan’s government has suspended eight officials after a hospital fire killed 14 newborns in Islamabad, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered criminal proceedings against anyone found responsible for criminal negligence.

The fire broke out Wednesday in a third-floor nursery at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, or PIMS. Officials said flames spread so quickly that staff rescued only one of the 15 babies in the ward.

An interim report by a committee led by retired senior civil servant Shahid Khan found that the nursery had neither a fire alarm nor a sprinkler system. It also said the hospital lacked detailed procedures and training for fires and other emergencies.

Supervisory staff were not on duty when the fire began. Two nurses, a female security guard and a house officer were in the ward. Emergency services were called six minutes after the fire started, and the first responders arrived 15 minutes after receiving the call.

The report found that only two of the hospital’s 13 standard operating procedures covered fires or other emergencies. The eight suspended officials include PIMS’s executive director, two joint executive directors, the head of neonatal services, two other doctors, the hospital’s assistant security director and the head of the Capital Development Authority’s emergency services. The government also approved action against the hospital security company and its officials.

Sharif had earlier dismissed Health Secretary Aslam Ghauri. His government approved compensation of 5 million rupees, about $18,000, for each bereaved family. It also approved the Sitara-i-Khidmat state award for a nurse who risked her life to save a baby before the flames spread.

The deaths have prompted wider fire-safety reviews. Punjab, Pakistan’s most populous province, ordered hospitals to immediately review fire-safety systems, firefighting equipment and emergency-response facilities.

Those guilty of criminal negligence deserve no leniency.

— Shehbaz SharifThe prime minister called for accountability after the interim inquiry into the hospital fire.
About this summary

Originally published by Egypt Independent. Summarized and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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