'A daughter of the nation': PM Shehbaz lauds courage of Pims nurse Razia Noreen during hospital fire

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday praised the courage of a nurse who saved an infant from a deadly fire at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) that killed 14 babies last week.

The fire early last Wednesday drew shock and horror across the country with lawmakers in both houses of parliament demanding accountability.

Footage from the incident showed that a nurse, Razia Noreen, entered the nursery at around 6:39am and emerged seconds later carrying a baby, rescuing the child. She then attempted to re-enter the nursery shortly afterwards.

The prime minister met with Noreen personally at the PM House in Islamabad, where the nurse recounted how she discovered the fire and her efforts to save the children in the maternity ward.

In a conversation at the PM House, the premier lauded the nurse, saying that the whole nation was not only praising her courage and bravery but was proud of her.

“You are truly a daughter of the nation,” he told her, adding that her actions would be recorded in history.

The nurse recounted that while preparing medication, she shut the medicine cabinet to suddenly catch sight of the fire.

“I threw the cabinet door shut and rushed inside,” she said, adding, “I didn’t even think about it.”

Noreen said that she had also told another nurse to “save the kids”, who had conducted rescue efforts outside the ward where there were more babies and their mothers.

“Post-natal mothers have undergone operations,” she said. “She immediately tried to rescue them … she knew that I was inside and would do something.”

Noting that the fire was very strong, she rescued one of the smaller babies and brought him outside to leave “in safe hands” with someone she knew.

“When Dr Abdul Rehman came out, I handed [the baby] over and rushed back inside,” she said, but added that as she was rescuing the second baby, a sudden blast caused a blackout.

PM Shehbaz reiterated that the whole nation was paying tribute to the nurse’s actions and added, “The mother of the child you saved will bless you.”

Noreen stressed that it was her “responsibility” to act, as nurses were given the responsibility of taking care of others’ children. She also expressed that she wished she could have saved the remaining children.

The premier noted that on March 23, the nurse would be given the Sitara-i-Khidmat and Rs10 million for her service. Noreen thanked PM Shehbaz and expressed her gratitude for bestowing such an honour on her.

PM Shehbaz had earlier approved the award and a cash reward for the nurse, who had “saved a child without regard for her own life”, according to the PMO.

“Razia Noreen has demonstrated an exceptional sense of responsibility and humanity. The entire nation, including myself, is proud of Nurse Razia Noreen for risking her own life to save the child. Such dutiful individuals cannot be praised enough,” he was quoted as saying.