Pakistan’s hospital tragedy intensifies public anger over government accountability, military influence and growing ties with the Trump administration

Fourteen newborn babies died Wednesday morning when a devastating fire swept through the nursery at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences—widely known as PIMS—in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Fifteen newborns were reportedly receiving treatment inside the nursery. Only one baby survived.

The babies had entered the world only days earlier. Many were inside incubators and connected to oxygen when the nursery became engulfed in flames.

The fire reportedly began at approximately 6:38 a.m. after a spark, explosion or mechanical failure involving an air-conditioning unit. Officials said oxygen connections supplying the incubators caused the flames to intensify within seconds.

One senior nurse described the scene as unbearable, saying the babies had lived for only a day or two before dying in the fire.

Pakistan’s Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal confirmed the deaths. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered an investigation and suspended Federal Health Secretary Aslam Ghori following the tragedy.

Supporting reports: Reuters, Associated Press, CBS News

Watch: 14 Newborn Babies Die in Islamabad’s PIMS Hospital

 14 Newborn Babies Die in Islamabad’s PIMS Hospital

The video documents the devastating fire at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad, where 14 newborn babies died and only one infant was reportedly rescued.

Families allege the nursery was locked

What makes the deaths even more disturbing are allegations from parents and witnesses that the nursery was locked or inaccessible—and that hospital staff were not present when families desperately tried to reach the babies.

One grieving father alleged that the nursery door was locked and unattended, delaying efforts to rescue the newborns. Other witnesses said staff scrambled away and instructed people to evacuate, leaving patients and relatives to attempt their own rescues.

Some people reportedly broke windows and used ladders to escape the smoke-filled building.

PIMS officials dispute portions of those accounts. The hospital maintains that two doctors and two nurses attempted to enter the nursery and that the unit’s access was restricted to prevent infant abductions—not to obstruct emergency access.

The hospital also claims that staff used the available fire extinguishers and successfully evacuated patients from neighboring rooms and wards.

These conflicting accounts must now be investigated. Families deserve more than official assurances. They deserve hospital records, security footage, staffing schedules, fire-safety inspection reports and a complete public explanation of why 14 defenseless babies could not be reached.

Read the witness accounts and PIMS’ response: Dawn, Geo News, The Guardian

Years of fire-safety concerns

Questions about PIMS’ fire-safety preparations did not begin with this tragedy.

Journalists confronted the health minister with reports that the hospital had received fire-safety notices for approximately eight years. A preliminary assessment cited by Pakistani media reportedly concluded that the hospital’s fire-prevention arrangements did not meet prescribed safety requirements.

The assessment also reportedly found that certain emergency routes were permanently closed from the outside or obstructed.

If those findings are confirmed, the deaths cannot be dismissed as an unpredictable accident caused by a faulty air conditioner. They would raise the possibility of years of ignored warnings, inadequate enforcement and preventable institutional failure.

An air conditioner may have started the fire, but an independent investigation must determine what allowed it to become a mass-casualty event inside a nursery entrusted with protecting Pakistan’s most vulnerable patients.

Grieving families demand justice

Outside PIMS, parents waited to receive the bodies of children they had welcomed into the world only days before.

One mother pleaded for her baby to be returned and demanded justice. Another parent said there were no words to explain the loss.

The families are now entitled to answers:

• Was the nursery properly staffed when the fire began?
• Was its door locked or otherwise inaccessible?
• Were emergency exits operational and unobstructed?
• Did the nursery have functioning alarms, sprinklers and fire-suppression equipment?
• Had officials ignored previous safety notices?
• How quickly were firefighters notified?
• Why could only one of 15 babies be rescued?
• Who will face consequences if negligence is established?

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered a high-level investigation, but the people of Pakistan have heard promises of accountability before. The inquiry’s evidence and conclusions should be released publicly—not hidden inside a government office after public attention fades.

A tragedy amid Pakistan’s crisis of public confidence

The PIMS fire is occurring during a wider crisis of confidence in Pakistan’s government, military establishment, courts and public institutions.

Many Pakistani citizens believe their votes were disregarded during the February 2024 general election.

Candidates supported by imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party won 93 of the 264 declared directly elected National Assembly seats—more than any other political grouping.

However, they did not secure an outright parliamentary majority. Shehbaz Sharif became prime minister after the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz formed a coalition with the Pakistan Peoples Party and several smaller parties.

That constitutional arithmetic does not erase the serious concerns surrounding the election.

The Commonwealth Observer Group found that restrictions on fundamental political rights affected one party’s ability to compete fairly. It also determined that the election-night cellular shutdown reduced transparency and hindered the reporting of results.

According to the Commonwealth, these conditions may have damaged the election’s credibility, transparency and inclusiveness.

The United States, United Kingdom and European Union also called for investigations into reported electoral interference, intimidation, irregularities and fraud.

Supporting reports: Reuters election results, Commonwealth Observer Group, UK House of Commons Library

Imran Khan remains imprisoned

Imran Khan has been imprisoned since August 2023 and is serving sentences arising from several criminal and corruption cases.

Khan, his attorneys and PTI maintain that the charges were politically motivated and designed to remove Pakistan’s most popular opposition leader from public life. Pakistan’s government and prosecutors deny those accusations and describe Khan as a lawfully convicted prisoner.

Khan’s supporters have also raised serious concerns about his health, treatment and access to his family, attorneys and personal doctors.

In August 2026, Pakistan’s Supreme Court ordered that he receive a medical examination following reports about his deteriorating condition.

The dispute surrounding his treatment continues. PTI has accused the government of failing to comply fully with the court’s medical directives, while government officials insist Khan has received appropriate care.

Read more: Reuters on Khan’s hospitalization, Associated Press

Pakistan’s government grows closer to Trump

Another source of controversy is the Pakistani government and military leadership’s rapidly expanding relationship with President Donald Trump and his administration.

This is not a formally declared political or military alliance. However, the documented relationship has grown significantly:

• Trump hosted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan’s powerful military leader, Field Marshal Asim Munir, at the White House in September 2025.
• Sharif encouraged American investment in Pakistan’s mining, agriculture, energy and technology sectors.
• The United States and Pakistan announced a trade agreement in 2025.
• Pakistan has sought billions of dollars in American financial support as it attempts to reduce its dependence on Chinese lending.
• Pakistan partnered with a company affiliated with the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial cryptocurrency business.
• Pakistan’s government nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, a decision that generated sharp criticism—particularly after the United States attacked Iranian nuclear sites.

The Trump family’s financial interest in World Liberty Financial has raised questions about whether Pakistan is using cryptocurrency investment and commercial arrangements to obtain greater political access and influence in Washington.

Reuters reported that Pakistan agreed to cooperate with a World Liberty Financial affiliate on a dollar-linked stablecoin. Al Jazeera subsequently examined allegations that the Trump family’s cryptocurrency interests helped give Pakistan greater access to the administration.

Supporting reports: Official White House photographs, Reuters on the White House meeting, Reuters on the cryptocurrency agreement, Al Jazeera investigation

Why citizens are concerned

For critics of Pakistan’s current leadership, the optics are deeply troubling.

While Imran Khan remains imprisoned, Field Marshal Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif have received high-level access to the Trump White House.

Pakistan’s government is pursuing American investment, financing, trade and cryptocurrency partnerships while citizens continue to question election credibility, political repression, deteriorating public services and military influence over civilian government.

Some Pakistanis fear that stronger ties with Washington could give the country’s political and military leadership greater international legitimacy without requiring meaningful democratic or human-rights reforms at home.

Others welcome American investment and improved diplomatic relations, arguing that Pakistan needs economic stability and international partnerships. Those competing views should also be acknowledged.

The critical question is whether these agreements will improve the lives of ordinary Pakistanis—or primarily strengthen the institutions and powerful individuals already controlling the country.

IAMV Commentary

The following represents the analysis and opinion of IAMV:

The deaths of 14 newborn babies must not be reduced to another government investigation followed by silence.

Families placed their babies inside one of Pakistan’s largest government hospitals because they believed the nursery would be the safest place for them.

Instead, parents were allegedly confronted by locked or inaccessible doors, missing staff, obstructed emergency routes and a fire that spread through oxygen-connected incubators.

Pakistan’s people are already questioning whether their votes mattered in the 2024 election. PTI-backed candidates won the largest number of directly elected seats while Imran Khan remained imprisoned and excluded from the political process.

International observers later documented conditions that damaged the election’s credibility and prevented a fair political contest.

Now the same government and military establishment accused by critics of suppressing the people’s political choice are developing closer relationships with President Trump, his administration and a business associated with his family.

There is no evidence that these political relationships directly caused the PIMS fire. But this tragedy exposes the consequences of a system in which accountability, public safety and the basic protection of human life appear to have been neglected.

Fourteen babies could not protest.

They could not unlock a door.

They could not call for help.

They were entirely dependent on the adults and institutions assigned to protect them.

The people of Pakistan deserve to know who failed them.

Justice requires transparency

Overlooked Justice calls for:

• An independent investigation with the findings released publicly
• Preservation and release of relevant CCTV footage
• Publication of PIMS’ previous fire-safety inspections and notices
• Identification of every employee assigned to the nursery
• Verification of whether any nursery or emergency door was locked
• A complete timeline of the hospital and fire department response
• Accountability for every official whose negligence contributed to the deaths
• Immediate fire-safety inspections of every government hospital in Pakistan
• Respect for the democratic and human rights of Pakistan’s citizens

Fourteen newborn babies are dead.

Their families should not have to fight the same institutions that failed to protect them simply to learn the truth.

This is not only a hospital story. It is a test of whether Pakistan’s government values accountability, democracy and human life.