A high-level inquiry committee, constituted on the orders of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to probe Islamabad’s Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) fire, on Thursday recorded the statements of over 30 PIMS employees.

Meanwhile, electro-medical report was also submitted to the committee.   

The committee recorded the statements of executive director PIMS and joint executive directors.

The committee also recorded the statements of duty doctors, nurses, 18 security guards deployed at MCH and directors of medical and non-medical.

It asked the PIMS administration and staffers questions about the incident.

Sources informed that the committee also asked the hospital employees to submit their statements in writing.

It also checked the biometric record of the on-duty staff besides taking photographs of the nursery in which newborns had been kept. 

It examined the CCTV footage of the nursery and corridors of the old and new blocks of the ward.

The committee will submit its report to the prime minister. 

Bodies handed over to parents

Moving scenes were witnessed as the bodies of 14 newborn babies, who had died at Islamabad’s Pakistan Institute Medical Sciences (PIMS) fire on Wednesday, were handed over to their parents, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Thursday. 

The only question weighing on the minds of these parents was who to blame for the deaths of their newborns.

Members of NA committee visit PIMS

Also on Thursday, members of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Health, who led by Mahesh Kumar Malani visited the PIMS, demanded the resignation of Federal Health Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal and PIMS Director.  

Speaking on the occasion, Malani said that the matter would be taken up at the committee’s meeting. “We want a transparent investigation into the incident,” he said, adding that facts should be unearthed and action should be taken against guilty staffers without any discrimination. 

He said that so far it had not been established as how the fire had erupted. “

Federal secy for health visits PIMS

New Federal Secretary for Health Mehmood Rai visited the PIMS late Wednesday night and set up tents to listen to the complaints of visitors. 

Lights, fans and chairs were also placed in these camps.

The secretary said he would daily visit the hospital and listen to people’s complaints. 

UN secy general grieved over PIMS tragedy

United Nations Secretary General António Guterres has offered his condolences and sympathies over the loss of lives of 14 newborns due to fire at the PIMS.

In his message, the secretary general has said that what happened at Islamabad’s hospital was extremely unfortunate. 

In this connection, he offered complete cooperation to the government of Pakistan.