Locked Emergency Exits, Safety Gaps Found at PIMS Nursery: CDA
CDA Fire and Disaster Management report says fire and life-safety arrangements were below required standards, emergency access routes were locked or obstructed, and hospital security hindered firefighters’ initial response.
ISLAMABAD: A Capital Development Authority (CDA) fire incident report has identified serious shortcomings in fire and life-safety arrangements at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) nursery ward following Wednesday’s deadly incident.
Fire-Safety Arrangements Found Inadequate
According to the document reviewed by Islamabad Tribune, the CDA Directorate of Emergency & Disaster Management described fire and life-safety arrangements at the affected Children Nursery Ward as “inadequate” and not in accordance with standard requirements.
One of the report’s most significant observations concerns emergency evacuation. It states that emergency exits and access routes were found “permanently locked from outside/obstructed,” raising questions over whether patients and emergency responders had adequate access during the critical early stages of the incident.
Security Staff Allegedly Hindered Fire Crew
The report also records that hospital security staff created a hindrance to the initial response of the fire crew. In addition, CDA officials observed inadequate crowd-management arrangements at the incident site.
Short Circuit Listed as Probable Cause
The CDA document lists an electrical short circuit/plug overload as the probable cause of the incident.
It records the emergency call at 6:54am and says the first responding fire and rescue team reached the site at 7:01am, giving a stated response time of approximately six minutes.
The document also records deployment of multiple crews and 44 operational staff along with six officers.
Casualty Figures Remain Unresolved
The findings add a significant new dimension to the investigation into the PIMS nursery incident. The Islamabad administration has separately constituted a fact-finding committee tasked with determining the exact cause, assessing whether adequate and functional fire-safety measures existed, and reviewing the effectiveness of the emergency response.
Separate official and major-media reports have reported 14 newborn fatalities, although the CDA incident report visible in the supplied document lists seven deceased babies. This discrepancy in casualty figures remains important and should be reconciled by investigating authorities rather than presenting either figure as definitively resolved.
PM Orders Investigation
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered an investigation into the incident, while authorities are examining the circumstances surrounding the nursery blaze and the safety arrangements in place at the hospital.
