Iran offers condolences to Pakistan after 14 newborns killed in Islamabad hospital fire
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman has expressed condolences to Pakistan over the deaths of at least 14 newborn babies in a fire at a hospital in the capital, Islamabad.
In a message on Wednesday, Esmaeil Baghaei conveyed the sympathy of the Iranian government and people to the victims’ families, as well as to the government and people of neighboring Pakistan.
He prayed for patience for the bereaved parents and wished those injured a speedy recovery.
The fire broke out earlier Wednesday in the maternity ward of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Islamabad’s largest public hospital.
Hospital authorities confirmed that 14 newborns in the intensive care unit (ICU) died in the blaze.
Investigators said the fire started after a faulty air-conditioning unit exploded inside the nursery, where the babies were receiving intensive care.
Fifteen babies were in the ward at the time, hospital spokesperson Aneeza Jalil told the Dawn newspaper. A doctor managed to rescue one of them.
Pakistan’s Health Minister Mustafa Kamal said many of the babies were in incubators or receiving oxygen, adding that the oxygen canisters intensified the fire.
The health minister said the incident was being investigated by “experts, different institutions including us”, adding that “nothing will remain hidden and all facts will be unearthed.”
Khurram Mehmood, 40, told AFP he lost his three-day-old daughter in the blaze and that rescuers took hours to arrive.
“I lost my daughter. She was only three days old,” he said. “My wife was in the ward. They took everyone out. We were sitting on the road waiting for help.”
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered an immediate investigation into the incident, one of the country’s deadliest hospital fires in years.
“Such a situation involving children is irreparable,” Sharif said, calling for those responsible to be identified and “the strictest action” to be taken.
President Asif Ali Zardari also expressed condolences to the bereaved families over the loss of their babies.
Fires in large buildings, including factories and shopping centers, are common in Pakistan, often linked to inadequate safety measures and weak enforcement of building regulations.
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