By Anzal Amin
ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Thursday announced Rs5 million compensation for the families of each infant killed in the devastating fire at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) gynaecology ward.
In a statement, the government said it stood equally in the grief and sorrow of the affected families and would provide them every possible support and assistance.
The government acknowledged that compensation could not replace a human life and described the payment as an attempt to ease the hardships of the bereaved families.
The announcement came a day after fourteen infants died after a fire broke out in the NICU on the third floor of the Mother and Child Health ward at Pims at around 6:45am.
The nursery housed 15 newborns at the time, with only one infant rescued.
Rescue sources said an air-conditioner compressor exploded inside the nursery. However, the Pims administration’s initial report said a nebuliser measuring oxygen quantity alongside an incubator exploded, with video footage showing a flame emerging from an air conditioner.
The report said oxygen subsequently caught fire and smoke travelled through pipes into the infants’ breathing systems, with the children dying after the oxygen supply was cut off and from burns.
Later, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif constituted a high-level four-member inquiry committee to investigate the fire incident, with the government giving a timeline of 48 hours to submit interim report.
‘Investigation ongoing’
Speaking to journalists earlier in the day, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said that an interim inquiry report would be available by today, adding that an independent investigation committee had been constituted to probe the incident.
He said the committee was fully independent and that many things would become clear within a day. He stressed that no human life could be compensated and that what mattered most was fixing responsibility.
He said the committee was reviewing footage to determine whether there had been sufficient response time to save the lives of children dependent on oxygen by removing the oxygen supply.
“These are technical questions on which we should not make any predictions,” he said. He also said Health Minister Mustafa Kamal had presented himself for accountability the previous day.
Meanwhile, sources told media that the PM-constituted committee had received written statements from the Joint Executive Director of Pims and three other officers, and had questioned Pims health management staff.
The committee also obtained written statements from the nursery staff of the children’s hospital and secured CCTV footage from the nursery, which it was reviewing and comparing against the administration’s account of how the fire started.
The committee was also handed the duty roster for August 26 and received reports from both the fire brigade and the emergency department. Sources said the committee would present an interim investigation report to the prime minister within 48 hours.
