Door was locked at Pakistan hospital where fire killed 14 babies, witnesses say

ByCarrie Davies and Usman Zahid Reporting fromPIMS hospital, Islamabad.

Key points

• Hivsa Walid was near the room at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) hospital with her sister-in-law.
• And Islamabad's Chief Commissioner Sohail Ashraf has remarked rescue teams reached the scene "immediately" after the emergency call was first produced, according to AFP.
• He has additionally suspended Federal Health Secretary Aslam Ghauri, a top official in the health department.
• Khurram Mehmood, 40, informed AFP news agency there was a long wait for rescue workers.
• PIMS is one of the biggest hospitals in Pakistan's capital, with 156 beds in its maternal and child health unit.

It was just after dawn on Wednesday morning at a maternity ward in the Pakistani capital when a horrific blaze erupted.

It would go on to kill 14 infants as parents say they waited hours for support to arrive.

Hivsa Walid was near the room at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) hospital with her sister-in-law. This person had given birth days earlier. She initially heard a shout and thought a patient had died – but then she saw smoke.

For context, the pair fled with the baby. This person is so small she does not yet have a name.

We didn't even think regarding our belongings. We just grabbed the baby and rushed downstairs.

"Some patients had delivered their babies just that night. I don't even know how we managed to obtain down – it was all a blur."

In practice, the fire broke out in an air-conditioning unit on the third floor of the mother and child unit at PIMS, one of the main state-run hospitals in Islamabad. Only one of the 15 babies present was saved.

Khurram Mehmood, 40, informed AFP news agency there was a long wait for rescue workers. "I lost my daughter. She was only three days old, " he remarked.

Jaweria, the mother of another victim, informed AFP news agency the door to the maternity ward was locked.

"For two hours I kept crying and wailing, " she remarked. "Police arrived after four hours and said they are here to investigate." "Why did the doctors leave the children there?" she asks.

"To hell with you, rescue team and police. Babies burnt to death there, but nobody could save them."

Walid suggested PIMS's safety protocols were inadequate, despite it being a major hospital. "There should have been fire extinguishers and protocols, but no one was doing anything – everyone was just running."

Notably, the father of a baby who died informed Reuters he had been visiting the ward for eight days and the building had "no fire security, no proper exits". And a number of eyewitnesses have maintained duty staff were not around.

Individuals had to "break the door down" and rescue teams were forced to smash the windows to control the flames, a witness who did not provide her name informed AFP.

Abdul Ghafoor, another witness, informed AFP he tried to secure into the building to rescue patients but couldn't reach the maternity ward.

"There was thick black smoke inside and patients were trapped, " he remarked. "Rescue teams arrived after almost two hours."

Rana Imran Sikander, the hospital's executive director, has informed the BBC the ward's door was not locked but was manned. He cited the need to protect babies from being stolen, something that has happened before at administration hospitals.

Pakistan has dealt with a number of major fires over recent years, with poor safety laws, building codes and lax enforcement often blamed for steep death tolls.

Survivors of a fire which killed dozens at a Karachi shopping mall in January this year remarked locked exits probable contributed to the high number of fatalities.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has expressed his "deep sorrow and heartfelt regret" over the latest blaze, and instructed authorities to "conduct an immediate investigation", according to a statement from his office.

He has additionally suspended Federal Health Secretary Aslam Ghauri, a top official in the health department. "Such a situation with children is irreparable", the statement remarked.

For now, door was locked at Pakistan hospital where fire killed 14 babies, witnesses remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.