PIMS Fire: Health Minister says there will be strict accountability as CCTV shows the blaze, spreading in just minutes, and its kind of wild how fast it took off in that time frame.

ISLAMABAD: Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal has expressed deep condolences over the deaths of 14 newborns in the fire at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), promising a comprehensive investigation and strict accountability of anyone found responsible for negligence.

Addressing the incident, the health minister offered condolences to the families of the newborns and prayed for patience for their parents.

“I offer my condolences over this tragic incident. May Allah grant the parents patience and give the children the status of martyrs,” he said.

Mustafa Kamal said the government would not spare anyone found responsible for negligence and added that he had presented himself for accountability as well.

“Whoever is found responsible for any mistake will not be spared. First of all, I have presented myself for accountability. If there has been any negligence by anyone, we will not spare anyone,” he said.

CCTV Footage Under Investigation

The minister said a preliminary look at CCTV footage had, sort of, provided meaningful detail on how fast the fire spread within the nursery.

As he described it, the recorded images suggest a spark showing up from an air conditioning unit, at around 6:38am.Within about a minute, doctors and nurses could reportedly be seen rushing towards the room, while another minute later the room had become engulfed in flames.

“At 6:38, a fire spark occurred and at 6:39, the entire room was on fire,” Mustafa Kamal said.

He added that the government was conducting its own investigation alongside the inquiry ordered by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif , sort of in parallel .

The minister said the footage that’s available and the evidence would be reviewed to work out the chronology of events and also to pinpoint the primary cause of the tragedy .

Oxygen System and Fire Spread

Mustafa Kamal also referred to a possible role played by oxygen in the rapid spread of the fire, saying the investigation would examine whether the oxygen supply intensified the flames.

“Oxygen made the flame spark and the fire spread,” he said while describing the preliminary information under examination.

However, he stressed that the investigation was still underway and that the final findings would be presented publicly once the relevant authorities completed their work.

The minister said he had only the information available to the PIMS administration at the time of the incident and that further facts would emerge through the formal investigation.

“The moment this happened, whatever information the PIMS administration had, I had the same information,” he said.

Investigation Report Expected Within Days

Mustafa Kamal said the government expected the investigation report to be completed within the next two to three days.

“Everyone will have to go through accountability from A to Z wherever there has been negligence,” he said.

He added that the purpose of the investigation was not only to identify those responsible but also to correct weaknesses in the hospital’s systems so that similar incidents would not happen again.

“We will identify the root cause and fix it so that such an incident does not happen again,” he said.

The minister also said that 26 fire extinguisher cylinders were used during the emergency response and described the intensity of the blaze as extremely high.

He acknowledged that there were shortcomings in the hospital’s fire safety arrangements.

“No one said there are A1 systems here. There were flaws in the system,” he said.

Questions Over PIMS Capacity and Infrastructure

The health minister also highlighted the growing pressure on healthcare infrastructure in Islamabad.

He said PIMS had originally been designed to serve a population of approximately 300,000 people, while Islamabad’s population has now increased to around 3.5 million.

The remarks are likely to add to questions surrounding the capacity, infrastructure and emergency preparedness of major public hospitals in the federal capital.

Protest Erupts During Minister’s Visit

The minister showed up at the hospital and that kind of thing also kinda triggered a protest from people who were asking for answers, about the deaths of those newborns.

In the account given by Mustafa Kamal , the protesters questioned why he was there at the hospital and they pushed for a transparent review .

During the confrontation, the minister reportedly told protesters:

“You have made a spectacle out of this.”

The protesters kept on demonstrating, in front of the health minister, calling for the people behind the tragedy to be identified and then held responsible, like fully, without delays.

Mustafa Kamal said that he had recently arrived in Islamabad from Karachi, and also mentioned he was to meet Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif regarding the incident. He said a video conference had also taken place with the prime minister.

He added that he would give the public the results of the investigation once the government had, in fact, wrapped up its inquiry.

The minister reiterated that any person discovered to have fallen short in their duties would be held to account , while also underscoring that the investigation will look at the incident from start to finish, no shortcuts.

The government has said the investigation will concentrate on pinpointing the exact cause of the fire, looking closely at the hospital’s emergency response and, at the same time , flagging any shortcomings that may have contributed to the deaths.