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Fourteen infants were killed on Wednesday morning in a fire at the gynaecology ward of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), Islamabad’s premier public hospital.
Health Minister Mustafa Kamal said that the incident occurred at 6:45am due to a “blast in the air conditioner” inside the ward and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif swiftly removed the federal health secretary as an inquiry was launched.
However, the incident sparked outrage among politicians and journalists, who demanded accountability and termed it the outcome of “criminal negligence”.
PPP leader Senator Sherry Rehman called the incident “beyond shocking” and held that it was a “deep stain of shame on the entire ministry and the rot within”.
