Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered criminal proceedings against those found responsible for the deadly fire at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), while eight senior officials have been suspended following the findings of an interim inquiry.
The prime minister issued the directives after chairing a meeting to review the investigation committee’s preliminary report into the fire, which killed 14 newborns at the federal capital’s largest public hospital.
The eight officials suspended with immediate effect include PIMS Executive Director Prof Dr Imran Sikandar, Joint Executive Directors Dr Tahir Shah and Dr Owais Shah, and neonatal department head Prof Dr Saadia Riaz.
Senior registrars Dr Naghma and Dr Nousheela Amjad, PIMS Assistant Director Security Muhammad Usman, and CDA Emergency Services Director General Dr Abdul Rahman have also been suspended.
Shehbaz directed authorities to initiate proceedings under criminal law against those responsible, saying there would be no leniency where criminal negligence was established.
“The people responsible for this incident will be brought to justice,” the prime minister said, describing the deaths of the children as a tragedy that had left the entire nation grieving.
He also ordered action against the private security company deployed at PIMS and its responsible officials.
The meeting was shown CCTV footage of the incident, which officials said demonstrated that the fire spread through the ward in approximately two minutes.
Investigators found significant shortcomings in the hospital’s emergency preparedness. Officials told the meeting that PIMS had no comprehensive standard operating procedures or training specifically addressing fires and other emergencies. Of 13 existing SOPs, only two subsections dealt with fire or emergency situations.
The briefing also found that supervisory staff were absent when the fire broke out. Two nurses, a female security guard and a house officer were present in the ward at the time.
The prime minister approved a recommendation to award the Sitara-e-Khidmat to a nurse who risked her life to rescue a baby during the blaze.
Another nurse who was present in the ward and a female security guard have been made officers on special duty (OSDs) while further investigations continue.
Meanwhile, Dr Muhammad Salman, chief executive officer of the National Institute of Health, has been directed to assume additional charge as acting executive director of PIMS. The prime minister also ordered the immediate appointment of replacements for officials removed from their positions.
Shehbaz directed that the interim inquiry report be made public immediately, with the government saying it would be uploaded to the Ministry of National Health Services website.
The investigation committee has also been instructed to continue its work and submit a more comprehensive final report, including further findings on responsibility for the fire and the failures that contributed to the deaths.