At least 15 babies killed in Pakistan hospital fire

A fire broke out at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) hospital in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing at least 15 newborn babies. According to Geo TV, the fire started in the nursery of the hospital's gynaecology ward and was triggered by a fault in the air conditioning systems.

There were 16 newborns at the hospital's gynaecology ward when the fire broke out, and only one of them was rescued. The fire started around 7:00 am on August 26. Emergency and rescue teams rushed to PIMS after the incident and worked to control the blaze and secure the affected section of the hospital.

The casualty figure may be revised as authorities continue assessing the incident. An investigation into the exact cause of the fire is expected, although initial information points to a fault in the nursery's air-conditioning system, with one report from ProPakistani suggesting an air-conditioner compressor exploded.

Brief written by urgent.news from The National Business, ProPakistani, Al Jazeera — 3 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.