‘Give me my child back’: Parents’ anguish after Islamabad hospital fire
Dubai: “For two hours I kept crying and wailing.” Jaweria had lost her newborn in the fire that swept through a maternity ward at Islamabad’s biggest public hospital. As families gathered outside on Wednesday, her grief turned to anger over why help had not come sooner. “Rescue teams arrived too late,” she told AFP. Then came the plea of a mother struggling to comprehend what had happened. “Give…
The Islamabad’s largest public hospital, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), experienced a devastating fire that claimed the lives of 14 infants in its maternity ward. The tragedy left families outside the hospital, desperate for answers and desperately seeking to recover their lost children. Jaweria, a mother who lost her newborn, expressed her anguish, pleading, “Give me my child back.”
Families gathered outside the hospital, expressing their fury at the slow response of rescue teams, which they claim arrived too late. Several witnesses reported that people broke windows and doors to rush into the burning hospital to rescue trapped patients. Emergency response authorities, however, deny these claims and assert that immediate assistance was provided.
The hospital’s spokeswoman, Aneeza Jalil, stated that the fire was caused by an electrical fault or an AC blast, while the health minister argued that oxygen tanks worsened the blaze. Questions also arose about the safety of the ward, with one parent alleging that doors were locked and there was no fire security in place. These conflicting accounts prompt authorities to launch a comprehensive investigation, questioning the safety arrangements at PIMS and the effectiveness of the emergency response.
The families of the deceased infants demand justice and accountability, while the government aims to uncover the truth behind the catastrophic event.
Written by urgent.news from Gulf News's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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