Newborn left unclaimed at Pims for two months dies in blaze

ISLAMABAD: One of the 14 babies who died in Wednesday’s fire at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), Islamabad, was a two-month-old boy who had remained unclaimed at the hospital since birth.

The infant had been living at Pims alongside other sick children. His body remains in the hospital mortuary following his death.

He was born on June 21 to a young girl who appeared to be around 15 years old, said a female doctor at Pims who requested anonymity.

The girl reportedly did not have documents to prove her marriage. The doctor told Dawn that hospital staff had asked “her husband and grandmother” to provide proof of marriage, but when they failed to produce the documents, “they left the baby and never returned”.

The doctor said police had been involved in the case since the child’s birth and had refused to hand over the baby to the family until they provided proof of marriage.

“The case was reported for medico-legal follow-up,” the doctor said.

“It had been two months, and the baby was growing in the [Mother and Child Health (MCH)] nursery among sick babies,” she said.

Another doctor told Dawn that the infant had been kept in an environment with a high risk of infection.

“The child was also deprived of the necessary care essential for normal neurocognitive development.

“Every child has a right to an identity, citizenship and a family in order to become a healthy member of society. That baby was fed and clothed through donations,” he added.

He said all possible efforts had been made to facilitate the baby’s adoption, adding that the police had not followed up on the case in the two months since.

The doctor told Dawn that, according to official hospital documents, the infant was listed as “baby of ‘H’, but we had named him ‘Ali’”.

“Now, his dead body is in the mortuary. Only his legal heirs can receive the body,” he said.

Fire at Pims

On Wednesday, 14 babies died after a fire erupted in the MCH ward at Pims. At the time, the health minister claimed that the fire began with a spark in the AC, while the bereaved families said the rescue teams arrived too late.

According to a statement by the hospital, the incident was “initially caused by a spark inside nursery at 06:38am and within seconds a massive fire erupted due to oxygen points at each incubator”.

It said two doctors and two nurses on duty inside the nursery responded “immediately and called security staff, who joined in and tried to get in twice [to bring] babies out until 06:39am, when a huge blast occurred and ceilings fell down”.

Several witnesses, their hands and faces blackened from the smoke, told AFP they waited hours for help from the emergency services and were forced to smash through windows to get to the ward while some found the doors locked — an account the hospital and government later denied.

Soon after the incident, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif formed an inquiry committee and removed federal Health Secretary Muhammad Aslam Ghauri.

Meanwhile, a notification issued by the Islamabad district magistrate said that a seven-member fact-finding committee, headed by the additional deputy commissioner general (ADCG), had been formed to determine the facts behind the fire.

Speaking to reporters in Islamabad on Wednesday, the health minister said he will present himself to his superiors for accountability.

He said the incident was being investigated by “experts, different institutions including us”, adding that “nothing will remain hidden and all facts will be unearthed”.

The incident has sparked outrage across the political spectrum, with many demanding accountability and criticising the hospital administration.