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A fire outbreak in a hospital maternity ward located in Islamabad, Pakistan, has killed 14 infants after an electrical fault reportedly prompted an air conditioner blaze.
The fire broke out early Wednesday on the third floor of the Mother and Child Health Ward at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS).
The Islamabad district office confirmed the deaths, while Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said all 14 victims were infants.
Witnesses described chaotic scenes, with thick smoke filling the ward and families desperately trying to rescue patients.
Khurram Mehmood, who lost his three-day-old daughter, said rescuers took hours to arrive.
“My wife was in the ward. They took everyone out. We were sitting on the road waiting for help,” he told AFP.
Another woman, Jaweria, said the neonatal intensive care unit was locked during the fire.
“I do not believe this. Give me my child back… Why did the doctors leave the children there?” she said.
Witness Abdul Ghafoor said the fire spread quickly, trapping babies as young as one day old.
“There was thick black smoke inside, and patients were trapped,” he told AFP.
He said rescue teams arrived nearly two hours after the fire started.
However, Islamabad Chief Commissioner Sohail Ashraf said an emergency call was made shortly before 7 am local time, with rescue and police teams arriving “immediately”.
Another witness alleged that hospital security guards stopped people from leaving the ward.
“People had to break the door down and rescue teams had to break the windows to control the fire,” the witness said.
PIMS spokeswoman Aneeza Jalil said an electrical fault involving an air conditioner caused the fire.
“Fire sparked from the AC,” she told AFP.
Prime Minister Sharif and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi expressed “deep grief and sorrow” over the deaths.
Sharif ordered a full investigation, saying those responsible should be identified and face “the strictest possible action”.
Other patients were evacuated from the hospital, while families gathered outside as officials assessed the damage.
Pakistan has recorded several deadly building fires in recent years, often linked to poor safety standards and weak enforcement.
In January, more than 65 people were killed in a shopping centre fire in Karachi, while other major fires in the city have also claimed dozens of lives.
