Pakistan hospital fire kills 14 infants

Security personnel stand guard following a fire incident outside the Mother and Child Health (MCH) ward at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) Hospital in Islamabad on August 26, 2026. [AFP]

A fire erupted in a hospital maternity ward in Islamabad on Wednesday killing 14 infants, Pakistan authorities said, blaming a faulty air conditioner for the blaze.

The dawn fire broke out on the third floor of the Mother and Child Health Ward at the public Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), the Islamabad district office said in a statement.

The statement gave a death toll of 14, who according to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif were all infants. He called for an investigation.

At the hospital AFP saw a nurse call out the names of babies who had perished in the fire as families gathered outside.

Khurram Mehmood, 40, told AFP he lost his three-day-old daughter in the blaze and that rescuers took hours to arrive.

"I lost my daughter. She was only three days old," he said.

"My wife was in the ward. They took everyone out. We were sitting on the road waiting for help."

A mother with black residue from the smoke on her hands stood crying outside the hospital as she held her 10-day-old baby in her arms.

"People were screaming. There was black smoke. We ran for our lives. Thank god my baby is safe," Shagufta Parveen told AFP.

An AFP reporter saw other families in tears and a man clear glass from two broken windows, as security guards stood at the entrance to the leading medical facility.

- 'Deep grief' -

Prime Minister Sharif and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi expressed "deep grief and sorrow over the deaths of 14 infants" in separate statements.

"Such a situation involving children is irreparable," the prime minister said.

"The circumstances that led to the incident should be thoroughly reviewed, those responsible should be identified and the strictest possible action should be taken."

PIMS spokeswoman Aneeza Jalil told AFP said the fire was caused by an electrical fault and "fire sparked from the AC (air conditioner)".

Sohail Ashraf, the Islamabad chief commissioner, said the emergency call was made just before 7:00 am (0200 GMT), with rescue and police teams reaching the scene "immediately" and bringing the fire under control.

Fires in large buildings are frequent in Pakistan, often due to poor safety laws and building codes as well as lax enforcement.

In January more than 65 people were killed in a shopping centre fire in the port city of Karachi.

At least 11 people were killed in another shopping mall fire in Karachi in 2023.

In 2021 at least 16 workers died after a factory fire in the same city.

In 2012 at least 250 labourers died at a garment factory in Baldia Town, in western Karachi, when a fire engulfed the facility. The building had no fire escape.