Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has suspended a top health official after 14 newborn babies died in a fire at an Islamabad hospital's maternity unit
The fire broke out in an air-conditioning unit in PIMS hospital, and was quickly ignited by oxygen connections, a spokesperson tells BBC Urdu
An investigation into the fire is under way, with a committee ordered to report within 24 hours
Of the 15 babies who were in the ward at the time, one newborn has been rescued, a hospital spokesperson tells the BBC
The father of a victim has criticised the safety measures in place at the hospital, saying only one door was open for visitors
The hospital's executive director tells the BBC the door to the maternity ward was not locked, but it was manned
Families have gathered outside the hospital - many in tears, says our correspondent who is on the scene, with one man telling the BBC that his three-day-old baby had died
Image source, EPA/ShutterstockPeople wait outside the mortuary of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) hospital
Image source, AFPThe hospital's entrance remains tight at the hospital's entrance
Image source, EPA/ShutterstockPeople have remained outside the hospital waiting for updates
Image source, EPA/ShutterstockOfficials survey part of the damage
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has suspended Federal Secretary of Health Aslam Ghauri, a top official in the health department, and removed him from his post, Pakistan's information ministry says.
The federal secretary of health is a non-political role that reports to the minister who leads the department.
The information ministry says the prime minister has been chairing a high-level meeting on the hospital fire, and has expressed "deep anger" at some officials.
Eyewitnesses have been describing chaotic and harrowing scenes at the hospital, including intense smoke and broken glass, with some complaining that rescuers were slow to respond.
One of them, Khurram Mehmood, told the AFP news agency he lost his three-day-old daughter in the fire and claimed that rescuers took hours to arrive: "We were sitting on the road waiting for help."
Another witness, Abdul Ghafoor, told the same news agency that the fire had spread "very quickly".
He said he went into the hospital to try to help save patients but could not reach the maternity ward: "There was thick black smoke inside and patients were trapped... rescue teams arrived after almost two hours."
Islamabad chief commissioner Sohail Ashraf has said that rescue and police teams reached the scene "immediately" after the emergency call was first made, and then brought the fire under control, AFP reports.
Image source, ReutersA father of a victim has criticised the safety measures in place at the hospital.
Speaking to the Reuters news agency the man, who did not provide his name, says: "I wasn’t even able to see my daughter, but the condition of the ward is bad.
"I’ve been going there for eight days, the situation was absurd."
He adds: "That building had no fire security, no proper exits. All doors were closed, only one door was for us to visit our children. They kept the other doors locked because they feared we would come to see our children too often."
Earlier, the hospital's executive director told the BBC the door to the maternity ward was not locked, but that it was manned, citing the need to protect against the possibility of babies being stolen.
Islamabad's District Magistrate has formed a fact-finding committee to investigate the fire, and the terms of reference say it will assess whether adequate and functional fire-safety measures were in place.
As we reported earlier, Islamabad's District Magistrate has formed a fact-finding committee to investigate the fire and produce a report "within 24 hours".
We can bring you a bit more now on what the committee has been tasked with finding out.
It has been asked to determine the "exact cause of the fire" as well as assessing "whether adequate and functional fire-safety measures were in place", according to the Pakistan government.
It has also been directed to evaluate the response time and "effectiveness of rescue and firefighting operations" and "examine any other relevant matter linked to the incident".
As we've reported, there have been questions about whether the door to the maternity ward was locked - the hospital's executive director told the BBC the door was not locked, but was manned.
The BBC's Pakistan correspondent Carrie Davies is at the scene of the fire, where she says there is real shock that something like this could happen.
She says emergency responders remain at the hospital, and families are outside grieving the loss of their children.
She has spoken to a woman who was in the ward opposite and a man who lost his three-day-old baby in the fire.
Watch her report below.
Two former federal ministers, Fawad Chaudhry and Shireen Mazari, have sought the resignation of Pakistani Health Minister Mustafa Kamal over the hospital fire.
Chaudhry says Kamal must take responsibility for the fire that killed 14 newborns. He adds a suspension or transfer to another department would not be enough.
Mizrai says the hospital has been suffering from negligence, mismanagement and corruption.
As we just reported, a hospital official told the BBC that guards were manning the ward to prevent babies from being stolen.
Carrie Davies
BBC Pakistan correspondent
There have been questions about whether the door to the hospital maternity ward had been locked, trapping the babies inside.
But executive director of PIMS Rana Imran Sikander tells the BBC the door was not locked, but manned instead.
He said this was to protect babies from being stolen from the ward, something that has happened before at government hospitals.
Image source, Corbis via Getty ImagesPakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has said those responsible for the fire should be identified and legal action taken.
"Effective fire safety and emergency arrangements should be ensured for the protection of patients in hospitals, especially newborn babies," he says in a post on social media.
The president also expresses "grief and sorrow" and extends his "heartfelt condolences and sympathy" to the families.
The deaths of newborn babies is a "heart-breaking and irreparable loss", he says.
Fourteen newborns have died in a fire at one of Pakistan's largest hospitals. Here's what you need to know:
Zeeshan Haider
BBC Urdu
Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) is one of country's largest public sector healthcare and teaching institutions, located in Islamabad's city centre.
Established in 1985, it serves patients from the capital and adjacent cities in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.
The hospital comprises more than two dozen medical and surgical specialist units, providing a wide range of services. It has capacity for 1,200 beds and 5,000 outpatients.
It also houses a dedicated children's hospital, offering specialist paediatric care and training for healthcare professionals.
We're slowly getting a picture of what happened inside the hospital.
BBC Urdu quotes a spokesperson for the hospital as saying that the fire broke out in an air-conditioning unit and was quickly ignited by oxygen connections.
The infants in the fire-hit ward were either in incubators or hooked on oxygen equipment, Health Minister Mustafa Kamal tells Geo News.
According to a hospital spokesperson interviewed by The Dawn, the newborn who survived was rescued by a doctor.
For context: Oxygen is not flammable on its own, but it is reactive and can accelerate a fire, making materials burn hotter and faster.
We are getting images of parents of infants who died in the fire, who have gathered outside the hospital.
Image source, Reuters
Image source, ReutersCarrie Davies
BBC Pakistan correspondent
Outside the hospital there is still a sense of shock.
Police patrol the entrance. Fire engines are parked outside, glass from shattered windows still lies scattered on the pavement mixed with medical masks.
We saw families who had lost infants, crying by the side of the ward. One man told us his three-day-old baby had died.
Hivsa Walid was inside the hospital with her sister-in-law who had given birth days before the fire started. They were in the nursery opposite the room where the fire started.
She said it was around 6am local time when they heard a shout. Initially they thought someone had died but then they saw the smoke. They grabbed the baby, so small she is yet to have a name, and ran.
Image source, Getty ImagesDozens were killed in a fire at a Karachi shopping centre earlier this year
Pakistan has dealt with a number of major fires in recent years.
In January, a fire ripped through the Gul Plaza shopping centre in Pakistan's largest city of Karachi, killing 67 people.
Sixteen people died after a fire hit a small factory in a residential area of Karachi in 2021.
And in 2012, close to 300 labourers died in a factory fire, also in Karachi. The building had no fire exits and workers were trapped behind metal grilles.
Poor enforcement of building safety laws has been blamed for the high number of fatalities in the fires.
Police say the newborns who died in the fire have been badly burnt, and will need to be identified in through DNA tests.
Only after the DNA tests can the bodies be returned to their parents, police say.
Police issued the statement in response to demands from parents that the bodies be returned to them immediately.
Carrie Davies
BBC Pakistan correspondent
We can now bring you more photos from the scene outside the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) hospital.
PIMS is one of the biggest public hospitals in the country.
As a reminder, authorities say that the fire has been extinguished, but it is not yet clear what caused the blaze.
Islamabad's District Magistrate has formed a fact-finding committee to investigate the fire which must produce a report "within 24 hours", according to an official document.
The fact-finding committee has been tasked to "ascertain the facts and determine the facts that caused the fire".
As we reported earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered an "immediate" inquiry into the fire that killed 14 newborns.
We're now getting the first images from the hospital in Islamabad, where 14 newborns have died in a fire.
Authorities say the blaze has been extinguished.
Image source, ReutersAn ambulance is parked at the entrance of the hospital in Islamabad
Image source, ReutersHospital staff look through shattered glass windows
Image source, EPAPakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has released a statement expressing "deep sorrow and heartfelt regret" over the hospital fire.
Sharif has instructed authorities to "conduct an immediate investigation", according to the statement from his office.
"Such a situation with children is irreparable", the statement continues.
Sharif expresses his "heartfelt condolences to the families of the innocent children", adding "his heart is saddened by this tragic incident".
