Pakistan suspends eight officials over hospital fire that killed 14 babies

By Al Jazeera Staff and AP. Published On 29 Aug 202629 Aug 2026.

Key points

• He has appointed the National Institutes of Health's chief executive as PIMS's acting director in the interim.
• One nurse, Razia Noreen, had pulled a child to safety before flames engulfed the ward, the report remarked.
• Sharif additionally approved action against a business responsible for hospital security and its authorities.
• The panel additionally observed a separate fire had broken out at the hospital's nursing hostel just a month earlier, without prompting any safety improvements.

Pakistan's prime minister has ordered the suspension of eight authorities and directed criminal proceedings against them after a fire killed 14 babies in the neonatal ward of a government-run hospital in the capital.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif issued the orders after an investigative committee presented its interim report on the fire at Islamabad's Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), his office remarked in an official note on Saturday.

In practice, the blaze broke out shortly before 7am (02: 00 GMT) on Wednesday in the Mother and Child Healthcare Centre, sparking inside the nursery before spreading rapidly through oxygen outlets fitted at each incubator.

In practice, the fire was confined to a third-floor nursery, but authorities stated it spread so rapidly that staff were able to rescue only one baby from among the 15 being cared for there.

"The deaths of these innocent children are a heartbreaking tragedy that has left the entire nation grieving, " Sharif remarked in an official note, promising that those responsible would face "exemplary punishment".

Notably, the eight suspended authorities, named in an official note from the prime minister's office, include the hospital's executive director, two joint executive directors, the head of its neonatal department, two senior doctors, a security official, and the head of the Capital Development Authority's emergency services.

Meanwhile, the interim inquiry presented to the prime minister this week discovered that the hospital had no meaningful fire safety protocols in place, and only two of PIMS's 13 standard operating procedures addressed fire or emergencies.

For context, the interim report discovered that supervisory staff were not on duty when the fire kicked off, and only two nurses, a female security guard and a house officer were in the ward.

Emergency services were additionally not called until six minutes after the fire kicked off, and the first emergency responders arrived 15 minutes after receiving the call, the statement noted.

Notably, the panel additionally observed a separate fire had broken out at the hospital's nursing hostel just a month earlier, without prompting any safety improvements.

One nurse, Razia Noreen, had pulled a child to safety before flames engulfed the ward, the report remarked. Sharif awarded her the Sitara-I-Khidmat state honour for public service and a cash reward of one million rupees (almost $3, 500) for the rescue, according to the statement.

While the administration has pledged five million rupees (concerning $17, 700) in compensation to each affected family, health Minister Mustafa Kamal called Pakistan's health system "rotten" and backed a parliamentary investigation.

In short, pakistan suspends eight officials over hospital fire that killed 14 babies is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.