Situationer: Unanswered questions linger hours after Pims fire tragedy

Situationer: Unanswered questions linger hours after Pims fire tragedy.

Key points

• Farhan Afsar Published August 26, 2026 Updated August 26, 2026 09: 48pm.
• 'Heads must roll': Politicians, journalists demand accountability as Pims fire claims lives of 14 infants.
• No lessons learnt: A timeline of hospital fires documented in Pakistan since 2010.
• Alina Shahid, a journalist, additionally informed me that the rescue operation was wrapped up before 11am and the bodies handed over to the families.
• The Mother Children Hospital (MCH) ward, situated at the western end of the healthcare facility, was sealed shortly after the fire was noted.

Hours after the tragedy struck, conflicting timelines, locked doors and whispers of coverups lingered at the healthcare facility.

At around 4: 30 pm, almost 10 hours after the fire that killed 14 infants, the entrance to the gynaecology ward at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Science (Pims) remained crowded. Eyewitnesses and relatives of victims had been hushed away hours ago, and the families left when the bodies were handed over. But there was an army of reporters and a line of cameramen set up in a neat row, waiting to see if anyone would show up. Everyone felt there was more to the story.

In practice, the Mother Children Hospital (MCH) ward, situated at the western end of the healthcare facility, was sealed shortly after the fire was noted. The main entrance at the north was additionally cordoned off with yellow tape. It has since been knocked down by the rush of residents.

To ensure the ward remained sealed, a number of policemen were posted at the gate, along with the hospital guards inside, apparently to ensure no daredevil reporter or cameraman was able to secure inside. A bag of riot control gear, batons included, lay outside the entrance. For some strange reason, authorities from the Punjab Highway Police prowled around the scene.

Notably, a woman carrying a sick child was arguing with the policemen at the gate when I arrived. She held up the child and pleaded for a number of minutes until the guard inside finally relented and opened the gate just enough to let her in. As if on cue, a few reporters darted forward, but the door was swung shut again before they could obtain to it.

Shortly after, the reporters turned their attention towards a different source of commotion: a man kicked off screaming and cameras gathered around. Individuals in the crowd asked him if he had lost a child, but the man ignored the question. He simply exhorted the reporters that God would not forgive them if they didn't go inside and report the truth of the matter. "They are martyrs, " he screamed before walking away.

Notably, the chatter was the same everywhere. Conflicting timelines, locked doors and whispers of coverups. A number of residents asked where exactly the nursery ward was located; most reporters and onlookers had never been inside the hospital. There was a general sense that no one truly knew what had happened. One person on the site confidently informed me that the fire began due to a fault in the air conditioning system. Another remarked he knew for a fact there was a fault in the incubators.

For context, the only sign that a rescue operation had taken place here were some broken windows; a few by individuals before the rescue teams arrived. They remarked the bulk of the rescue was done by the residents themselves.

Notably, the fire brigade team that carried out the initial rescue had rotated out of their shift by 2pm. The new team sat on the ground next to a parked fire truck, even though the fire had long been extinguished.

Meanwhile, a member of the replacement team indicated me the two places the building had been broken into. Firefighters had reached the site to find both the northern and western gates locked, he informed me. A number of residents on the scene informed me that locking the maternity ward was usual business; there is a fear of newborns being kidnapped. So the firefighters had set up ladders, broken two major holes into the building and carried out the initial rescue.

Some remarked the fire brigade team only carried out adults stuck in the ward. The replacement firemen weren't sure themselves. Journalist Qurrat-ul-AIn Shirazi indicated me a video of a fireman bringing down a small wrapped body. "Everyone gives a different timeline, a different version, " she informed me.

Alina Shahid, a journalist, additionally informed me that the rescue operation was wrapped up before 11am and the bodies handed over to the families. She additionally stated eyewitnesses informed her that the initial rescue operations were impeded. The bodies were moved to a mortuary, rapidly identified and handed over shortly after the operation concluded.

"They were handed the bodies and hurried away from the scene, " a woman on the scene informed me. "Everything seemed to be happening in a hurry."

Farah Rabbani, a journalist who had arrived at the site just after 9am, informed me that she truly realised things were serious when she received a video from the Edhi rescue service showing small coffins being prepared. She was perhaps one of the few reporters who actually managed to obtain inside the ward. "It's completely destroyed, " she informed me, "floor to ceiling, everything is burnt."

Meanwhile, the other entrance that had additionally been sealed is at the western end. There were no reporters gathered there so I decided to see for myself. A moment afterwards, I realised why. That side of the building has an open corridor blocked only by a grill. And through that grill came what can only be described as the worst smell I have ever experienced: burnt plastic and charred flesh.

Politicians came and went. Health Minister Mustafa Kamal had left minutes before I arrived. PPP's Sherry Rehman had visited before him. Shortly, leader of the opposition in the Senate, Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, appeared and took care to emphasise that not letting the media in was an attempt at a cover up. Minutes after he left, PPP's Shahid Khattak was on the scene. The lines were repetitive; the questions remained.

Had the bodies been identified? This was another question that elicited a number of confident responses. Some remarked the tags placed on the infants' limbs were intact. Others remarked identification was still in process. None of the individuals who could actually answer the questions were on the scene anymore.

Farhan Afsar is a journalist writing regarding residents and culture. He lives in Islamabad. 14 infants killed in fire at Pims' gynae ward in Islamabad.

No lessons learnt: A timeline of hospital fires documented in Pakistan since 2010. Dawn NewsKit Publishing Platform.

Taken together, the developments around situationer: Unanswered questions linger hours after Pims fire tragedy point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.