LAHORE (The Thursday Times) — Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered the immediate suspension of eight PIMS Hospital officials and directed criminal proceedings against those found responsible, after an investigative committee presented its interim report on the fire that killed newborns in the hospital’s neonatal ward, according to a press release issued by the Prime Minister’s Office on Friday.
The prime minister chaired a high-level meeting on the incident, at which the committee’s interim findings were presented alongside nearly two minutes of CCTV footage of the fire. He approved the immediate suspension of eight officials identified by the committee and directed that they face not only departmental proceedings but action under Pakistan’s criminal law, instructing that the process be carried out “without discrimination.”
The eight officials named in the press release are PIMS Executive Director Professor Dr. Imran Sikandar; Joint Executive Directors Dr. Mutahir Shah and Chaudhry Dr. Owais Ali Shah; Head of the Neonatal Department Professor Dr. Sadia Riaz; Senior Registrar Dr. Nagham; Dr. Naushaba Amjad; Assistant Director of Security at PIMS, Muhammad Usman; and the Director-General of the Capital Development Authority’s Emergency Service, Dr. Abdul Rehman.
The prime minister also approved action against the private security company contracted for the hospital and its officials. Separately, he approved conferring the Sitara-e-Khidmat, a state civilian honour, on a nurse who saved a child’s life without regard for her own safety as the fire spread through the ward. A nurse and a female security guard who were on duty in the ward at the time have been made Officers on Special Duty pending further investigation. Dr. Muhammad Salman, CEO of the National Institutes of Health, has been directed to take over as PIMS’s acting executive director, with new appointments to replace the removed officials ordered to be made immediately and all at once. The prime minister also directed that the investigative committee’s interim report be made public without delay, with the Ministry of National Health Services set to publish it on its website shortly after the meeting.
“Those guilty of criminal negligence do not deserve any leniency,” the prime minister said, according to the press release. “Those responsible for this incident will be brought to justice. The deaths of innocent children is a tragic incident that has grieved the entire nation. My condolences, along with those of the entire nation, are with the children’s parents. Exemplary punishment will be ensured for those responsible, so that no mother is separated from her child again due to anyone’s criminal negligence.”
The briefing presented to the meeting detailed a series of systemic failures at the hospital. Investigators found PIMS had no detailed standard operating procedures or training in place for fire or emergency situations; of the hospital’s 13 SOPs, only two sub-sections made any reference to fire or emergency response. Supervisory staff were not on duty at the time of the incident, though two nurses, a female security guard, and a house officer were present in the ward. The fire spread through the entire ward in only about two minutes. Emergency services were called six minutes after the fire began, and the first emergency response arrived a further 15 minutes after that. The ward had no fire alarm or sprinkler system installed, and the neonatal ward was found to be in violation of World Health Organization guidelines on the matter. No hospital officer held direct responsibility for fire or emergency situations; the role had instead been assigned to the assistant director as an additional duty.
The briefing also noted that a fire had broken out at PIMS’s nursing hostel only a month earlier, in July, without serious safety measures being taken afterward. The meeting was separately briefed on the hospital’s broader state of disrepair and mismanagement. The prime minister thanked the investigative committee’s head, Shahid Khan, and its members, and directed that the investigation be completed with a more detailed report to follow.
The meeting was attended by federal ministers Ahad Khan Cheema, Attaullah Tarar, and Syed Mustafa Kamal, committee head Shahid Khan, committee members Barrister Nabeel Awan and Major General (Retired) Khurshid Atra, and other senior officials.
Source:
Prime Minister’s Office (Media Wing) press release, Lahore, August 29, 2026
