ISLAMABAD: The death toll from the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) nursery fire has risen to 15 after the lone newborn rescued alive from the August 26 blaze died following 22 days of treatment at the hospital.
The newborn girl died at PIMS on September 17, according to her death certificate and sources. The certificate records cardiac and respiratory arrest as the cause of death and documents serious complications that developed during her hospitalisation, including sepsis, disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) and pulmonary bleeding.
The baby was admitted to PIMS on August 26, the day of the fire, and remained under treatment for 22 days as her condition deteriorated. She initially survived as the lone survivor among the 15 newborns in the nursery, after Staff Nurse Razia Noreen entered the burning unit and brought her out alive.
The rescue that gave one baby a chance
The government inquiry's review of CCTV footage provides a detailed account of the rescue.
At approximately 6:38:15am, Charge Nurse Nasreen was seen emerging from the nursery and seeking assistance. About 20 seconds later, she and Security Guard Maria entered the affected area, where flames were visible.
At approximately 6:38:56am, Staff Nurse Razia Noreen entered the burning nursery. Around eight seconds later, at approximately 6:39:04am, Noreen emerged carrying a baby.
The inquiry records that Noreen subsequently attempted to re-enter the nursery as conditions rapidly worsened. By about 6:39:15am, one of the CCTV cameras was substantially obscured by smoke, with another camera becoming obscured shortly afterwards. The committee concluded that conditions inside the nursery deteriorated catastrophically within roughly two minutes.
Noreen later said she did not stop to think about her own safety when she saw the fire. She described her actions as part of her responsibility to the babies entrusted to her and said she wanted to save as many children as possible but could rescue only one because the fire spread so quickly.
Her actions have since received official recognition. Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif approved a Rs10 million reward and announced the Sitara-i-Khidmat for Noreen. President Asif Ali Zardari subsequently approved the conferment of the Tamgha-i-Shujaat on the PIMS staff nurse for risking her life to rescue the newborn.
Lone survivor remained under treatment for 22 days
The newborn's survival after the fire initially offered a glimmer of hope amid a tragedy that had already claimed 14 lives.
That hope continued for more than three weeks as the baby remained under treatment at PIMS. However, according to the death certificate, her condition deteriorated amid severe medical complications before she ultimately suffered cardiac and respiratory arrest on September 17.
Her death means that none of the 15 newborns who were in the nursery at the time of the fire survived. Reports and the inquiry record indicate that the nursery was treating 15 newborns despite having capacity for 10.
What the PIMS inquiry found about the fire
The death of the lone surviving baby comes as the findings of the inquiry into the August 26 fire have raised broader questions about fire safety and emergency preparedness at PIMS.
The inquiry committee, headed by former Interior Secretary Shahid Khan, examined CCTV footage, architectural, electrical, biomedical, maintenance, security and fire-safety records, as well as statements from medical, nursing, engineering, security and emergency-response personnel.
The committee's findings distinguished between what started the fire and what allowed it to become a mass-fatality event. At the interim stage, it said the precise technical ignition source had not initially been conclusively established, although an internal electrical or equipment-related origin remained plausible. Later reporting on the committee's 43-page findings said an electrical failure was considered the most likely cause.
More importantly, the inquiry identified serious institutional and operational shortcomings involving fire-safety preparedness, emergency exits and access, emergency notification, evacuation planning, firefighting arrangements and security coordination.
The nursery deteriorated within minutes
The inquiry found that the fire developed with extraordinary speed. CCTV showed the first visible emergency at around 6:38am, while smoke rapidly obscured cameras and access to the nursery became increasingly difficult.
The committee said the available evidence did not support generalized allegations that frontline doctors and nurses simply abandoned the newborns. Instead, CCTV showed multiple frontline personnel attempting to respond and rescue patients, including Noreen's effort to remove the surviving baby.
At the same time, the inquiry raised questions about the emergency notification chain. It found that the Capital Emergency Service (CES) recorded receiving its first emergency call at approximately 6:54am, with dispatch at 6:55am and arrival around 7:01am. However, the committee said other evidence referred to an earlier call and that telephone records, control-room logs and other records needed to be reconciled before attributing any delay to a particular person or agency.
Fire safety concerns had surfaced weeks earlier
One of the significant findings was that PIMS had experienced another fire at its Female Nursing Hostel on July 6, 2026, roughly seven weeks before the nursery tragedy.
The earlier inquiry had already identified deficiencies involving fire detection, alarms, evacuation preparedness, electrical inspection, security response and record keeping. It recommended measures including smoke detectors, alarm systems, emergency lighting, marked escape routes, functional extinguishers, periodic testing, electrical inspections and written emergency-response arrangements.
The August inquiry noted that the earlier report was still being returned for revision on August 25, one day before the nursery fire, and examined whether previously identified deficiencies had been communicated and acted upon before the second incident.
The committee also reported concerns from the Capital Emergency Service regarding inadequate fire and life-safety arrangements and said firefighters had encountered locked or obstructed emergency exits and access points. It stressed, however, that the status and responsibility for individual doors still required verification before assigning personal responsibility.
Inquiry separates frontline rescue from institutional responsibility
The inquiry recommended action against several officials over administrative, clinical and operational issues, while stressing that individual responsibility must be established on the basis of assigned duties and available evidence.
Among those named in the interim recommendations were Professor Dr. Imran Sikandar, Executive Director, PIMS; Professor Dr. Sadia Riaz, Head of Neonatology, Children Hospital, PIMS; Dr. Nagham, Senior Registrar, Neonatology Department, PIMS; Dr. Mutahir Shah, Joint Executive Director, Mother and Child Hospital; Chaudhry Waris Ali Raza, Joint Executive Director, Non-Medical, PIMS; Dr. Nosheela Amjad, Director, Mother and Child Hospital; Dr. Abdul Rehman, Director General, Capital Emergency Service, Capital Development Authority; and Muhammad Usman, Assistant Director Security.
The report also recommended further examination of the outsourced security contractor and called for criminal investigation where the evidence establishes potentially culpable omissions, while emphasizing that criminal guilt must ultimately be determined through the competent investigative and judicial process.
A tragedy that now claims all 15 newborns
The death of the rescued baby has fundamentally changed the final toll of the August 26 PIMS nursery fire.
What began with 14 newborn deaths and one surviving newborn has now ended with the death of that lone survivor after 22 days of treatment. The death certificate records cardiac and respiratory arrest, while the baby's prolonged hospitalisation was marked by complications including sepsis, DIC and pulmonary bleeding.
The tragedy has therefore left 15 newborns dead, while the inquiry into how a fire inside a neonatal unit could escalate so rapidly continues to shape questions about fire prevention, emergency preparedness, neonatal evacuation and institutional accountability at one of Pakistan's largest public hospitals.
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