ISLAMABAD — Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday ordered the suspension of eight officials and directed that criminal proceedings be initiated against those found responsible for a fire that killed 14 newborns at an Islamabad hospital, his office said. Sharif issued the orders after an investigative committee headed by retired senior civil servant Shahid Khan presented its interim report on Wednesday’s fire at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, or PIMS, his office said in a statement. The fire was confined to a third-floor nursery but officials said it spread so quickly that staff were able to rescue only one baby from among the 15 being cared for there. The inquiry found that the nursery had no fire alarm or sprinkler system and that the hospital lacked detailed procedures and training for responding to fires and other emergencies, the statement said. The fire has intensified public anger, prompting grieving families and civil society groups to demand accountability. “Those guilty of criminal negligence deserve no leniency,” Sharif was quoted as saying. He ordered departmental and criminal proceedings against those identified by the committee. The eight included the hospital’s executive director, two joint executive directors, the head of the neonatal department, two other doctors, the hospital’s assistant director for security and the head of the Capital Development Authority’s emergency services. Sharif also approved action against a company responsible for hospital security and its officials. The government also already announced compensation of 5 million rupees (about US$18,000) for each bereaved family. The statement said the interim inquiry found that supervisory staff were not on duty when the fire began. Two nurses, a female security guard and a house officer were in the ward. Emergency services were not called until six minutes after the fire started, and the first emergency responders arrived 15 minutes after receiving the call, the statement said. Investigators found that only two subsections of the hospital’s 13 standard operating procedures referred to fires or other emergencies. About two minutes of surveillance video of the nursery fire was shown during Saturday’s meeting. The footage was not immediately released. The interim report said a nurse risked her life to save a baby before the flames spread through the ward. Sharif approved a recommendation that she receive the Sitara-i-Khidmat, a state award recognizing public service. The deaths have prompted broader reviews of fire-safety measures at hospitals across Pakistan. The government in Punjab, the country’s most populous province, this week ordered an immediate review of fire-safety systems, firefighting equipment and emergency-response facilities at hospitals. Sharif earlier dismissed Health Secretary Aslam Ghauri, the Health Ministry’s highest-ranking civil servant, after the blaze. The fire was among Pakistan’s deadliest recent tragedies involving children. In June, 14 schoolchildren were killed when the roof of a tutoring centre under construction collapsed in the eastern city of Lahore. Munir Ahmed, The Associated Press
