Reporting snapshot · 28 August 2026. This reports the official response the day after the PIMS fire. The cause of the blaze remained under investigation and the inquiry report had not been made public.
What happened
Pakistan’s Ministry of National Health Services ordered a comprehensive fire-safety audit of public-sector hospitals on 28 August 2026, two days after a fire in a nursery at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad killed 14 newborn babies.
A ministry notification directed every hospital under its administrative control to immediately begin a fire-safety audit through a competent or authorised fire-safety firm. The audits are to examine fire-detection systems, fire alarms, firefighting equipment, emergency and exit routes, and electrical installations and other potential hazards. Hospitals were told to fix immediately any deficiency that poses an immediate threat to life or property, to prioritise serious hazards, and to inform the ministry of the audit’s start, the company conducting it and its expected completion date.
The orders covered PIMS, Polyclinic, Federal General Hospital Chak Shahzad and Sheikh Zayed Hospital Lahore, among other institutions. The Islamabad Healthcare Regulatory Authority was assigned to ensure that audits are carried out at public and private hospitals and medical institutions and to verify them.
The fire broke out at about 6:38am on 26 August on the third floor of the PIMS Mother and Child Hospital ward. Fifteen newborns were in the nursery; 14 died and one was rescued, while four other babies and three mothers were rescued from an adjoining room. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif suspended Federal Health Secretary Aslam Ghauri and formed an inquiry committee headed by former federal secretary Shahid Khan into the incident.
Accountability in parliament
The same day, the Senate suspended routine proceedings after a motion by Pakistan Peoples Party parliamentary leader Senator Sherry Rehman and unanimously passed a resolution calling for a special committee to investigate the fire. Rehman questioned reported problems with emergency exits and discrepancies between the PIMS account and findings by the Capital Development Authority.
In the National Assembly, lawmakers unanimously adopted a resolution seeking an impartial inquiry and strict action against those found responsible. It called on the government to ensure strict implementation of fire-safety and emergency-preparedness measures at federal hospitals, particularly neonatal and paediatric units.
Health Minister Mustafa Kamal told the Senate that no one responsible would be spared “no matter how influential they are,” said he was speaking for the prime minister and the government, and called for “radical reforms” rather than an inquiry that fades from attention. He rejected calls for his immediate resignation, saying the investigation should conclude first.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry announced Rs5 million in compensation for each family that lost a child, to be deposited in the mothers’ accounts. He described the deaths as the result of criminal negligence and said those found guilty would face exemplary punishment. The dead were laid to rest on 27 August.
Why it matters
The response turns a single hospital disaster into a nationwide safety review. The PIMS fire has become the focus of wider concern about fire precautions at public buildings in the capital, and the audit order extends that scrutiny to federal hospitals across the country, including large facilities in Lahore and Islamabad.
It also tests whether parliamentary and ministerial pledges produce changes in a health system that the health minister himself described as “rotten.” For the bereaved families, the compensation and the inquiries are the state’s first concrete responses since the deaths on 26 August.
What is still uncertain
The precise cause of the fire remains undetermined. PIMS has pointed to a spark near an air conditioner and the spread of flames through oxygen points at incubators, while a Capital Development Authority report reportedly cited an electrical short circuit and obstructed or locked emergency exits. PIMS has disputed the exits finding. A parliamentary health committee that inspected the hospital said it could not establish the source of the fire.
The inquiry committee headed by Shahid Khan was expected to present its findings, but its conclusions had not been published as of 28 August. It remained unclear whether it would satisfy demands for a special parliamentary committee, how widely the audits would be implemented, and whether the compensation process would reach all 14 families. The 26 August fire and its immediate toll are reported separately.
Sources & reporting notes
This is a summary of published reporting, not independent on-the-ground reporting. Facts and attributed remarks are as carried by the cited sources, which were reviewed on 28 August 2026.
- The Express Tribune — "Govt orders fire safety audits of hospitals after PIMS tragedy"28 August 2026 · The health ministry notification, the hospitals covered, the fire sequence, the suspension of the health secretary and the Rs5m compensation.
- Pakistan Today — "PIMS Fire: Senate, NA demand accountability as govt vows no one will be spared"28 August 2026 · The Senate and National Assembly resolutions, Mustafa Kamal's remarks, the proposed special committee and the compensation details.
