Lawmakers from both houses of parliament have raised questions over CCTV footage of the fire at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) that killed 14 newborns, citing apparent gaps in the recording and continuing uncertainty over how the blaze started and spread so rapidly.
The concerns emerged during separate meetings of the Senate and National Assembly standing committees on health, where Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal briefed lawmakers on the investigation.
Kamal said the neonatal nursery was engulfed in flames within roughly two minutes, a timeline he said was supported by footage he had personally reviewed.
During the Senate Standing Committee on National Health Services meeting, chaired by Senator Amir Waliuddin Chishti, Senator Nasir Butt questioned the authenticity of the footage shown to lawmakers.
“The CCTV footage appears to have been edited,” Butt said, while also asking how a nursery could have been devastated by fire within such a short period. He sought details about the number of hospital employees on duty at the time.
Other senators complained that the inquiry report had not been provided to them before the briefing, saying access to the findings would have allowed them to question officials more effectively.
Committee member Masroor Ahsan focused criticism on the former PIMS executive director, saying lawmakers had previously raised concerns about his performance. Ahsan called for accountability over the deaths and alleged that doors to the neonatal nursery and an adjoining ward had been closed during the emergency. He also demanded the former executive director’s arrest.
Separate concerns were raised during the National Assembly Standing Committee on Health, chaired by Dr Mahesh Kumar. Kumar said the footage provided to the committee appeared incomplete and questioned why recordings from inside the nursery had not been presented.
He noted that the available footage showed a nurse entering the nursery but apparently did not show her leaving.
The committee also identified what it described as contradictions in accounts provided by PIMS personnel and said hospital officials had failed to satisfactorily explain the cause of the blaze.
“We want to know the actual facts and why the fire broke out in the nursery,” Kumar said.
Lawmakers also scrutinised fire and medical safety arrangements, questioning the absence of a biomedical engineer, the use of cylinders for supplying medical gases and the installation of portable air-conditioning units in the nursery.
The parliamentary scrutiny follows an inquiry ordered by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who subsequently directed the suspension of eight officials.
Those suspended include PIMS Executive Director Prof Dr Imran Sikandar, Joint Executive Directors Dr Mutahir Shah and Dr Owais Shah, neonatal department head Prof Dr Saadia Riaz, Senior Registrar Dr Naghma, Dr Noshila Amjad, Assistant Director Security Muhammad Usman, and CDA Emergency Services Director General Dr Abdul Rehman.
Despite the administrative action, lawmakers said significant questions remain unanswered, particularly over the origin of the fire, its extraordinarily rapid spread and whether the CCTV record provides a complete account of what happened inside the neonatal nursery.