PIMS fire: PM Shehbaz orders suspension, criminal proceedings against eight officials

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday approved the immediate suspension of eight officials identified in an interim inquiry into the deadly fire at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), ordering both departmental and criminal proceedings against those found responsible.

The directives came during a high-level meeting chaired by the prime minister, where the inquiry committee presented its interim report and officials screened approximately two minutes of CCTV footage showing the incident.

Those identified by the committee include PIMS Executive Director Prof Dr Imran Sikandar, Joint Executive Directors Dr Mutahir Shah and Chaudhry Dr Awais Ali Shah, Neonatal Department head Prof Dr Sadia Riaz, Senior Registrar Dr Naghm, Dr Nausheela Amjad, PIMS Assistant Director Security Muhammad Usman and CDA Emergency Services Director General Dr Abdul Rehman.

The prime minister directed that criminal proceedings be initiated without discrimination alongside departmental action, saying those responsible for “criminal negligence” deserved no leniency.

He also approved action against the private company responsible for security at the hospital and its officials.

“The deaths of innocent children are a deeply tragic incident over which the entire nation is grieving,” the prime minister said, expressing sympathies with the parents of the victims.

He said those responsible would be brought to justice and given exemplary punishment so that criminal negligence did not lead to another mother losing her child.

The interim investigation found serious shortcomings in PIMS’ preparedness for fires and other emergencies. The meeting was informed that the hospital had no detailed standard operating procedures or training programme dealing specifically with fire emergencies.

According to the briefing, of PIMS’ 13 SOPs, only two subsections contained any reference to fires or emergency situations.

Investigators also found that supervisory staff were not present on duty when the fire broke out. Two nurses, a female security guard and a house officer were present in the ward at the time.

The meeting was told that the fire spread through the entire ward in just two minutes.

One of the nurses managed to save a child before the flames engulfed the ward, risking her own life in doing so. The prime minister approved awarding her the Sitara-i-Khidmat in recognition of her actions.

However, the prime minister ordered that another nurse and a female guard who were present in the ward be made officers on special duty (OSDs) pending further investigation.

The inquiry also highlighted delays in the emergency response. Emergency services were called six minutes after the fire began, while the first emergency response reached the hospital another 15 minutes later.

The meeting was informed that PIMS had experienced another fire only a month earlier, in July, at its nursing hostel, but no substantial safety measures were subsequently introduced.

The neonatal ward had neither a fire alarm nor a sprinkler system, while investigators also found violations of World Health Organisation requirements applicable to such wards. Officials further told the meeting that PIMS had no dedicated officer responsible for dealing with fire-related emergencies, with an assistant director assigned the responsibility as an additional charge.

The committee also briefed the prime minister on the hospital’s deteriorating physical condition and wider management failures.

PM Shehbaz directed that Dr Muhammad Salman, chief executive officer of the National Institute of Health (NIH), be appointed acting executive director of PIMS. He also ordered the immediate appointment of replacements for all officials removed from their positions.

The prime minister directed the government to make the inquiry committee’s interim report public immediately, with the document to be uploaded to the Ministry of National Health Services’ website.

Federal ministers Ahsan Iqbal Cheema, Attaullah Tarar and Syed Mustafa Kamal, inquiry committee chairman Shahid Khan, members Barrister Nabeel Awan and Maj Gen (retd) Khurshid Athra, and other senior officials attended the meeting.