ISLAMABAD: Parliament has unanimously approved the formation of a special committee to investigate the deaths of 14 newborn babies in a fire at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), as the government pledged that those found responsible would face action.

The decision came during Friday’s proceedings of the National Assembly, where Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar proposed a joint parliamentary forum comprising members of both the National Assembly and Senate. Health Minister Mustafa Kamal backed the move and said the investigation must establish responsibility without unnecessary delays.

The PIMS fire broke out early Wednesday on the third floor of the Mother and Child Hospital. Fifteen newborns were in the affected ward when the blaze erupted. Fourteen sustained critical burns and died, while one infant was rescued alive.

The tragedy has intensified concerns over fire-safety arrangements in public hospitals, including emergency exits, firefighting equipment and the ability of medical facilities to respond quickly when vulnerable patients are trapped inside.

Law minister calls for joint parliamentary inquiry

Speaking in the National Assembly, Tarar argued that the two houses should avoid conducting separate investigations into the same incident.

He said a single parliamentary committee would allow lawmakers to examine the tragedy more effectively and avoid duplication between separate inquiries by the Senate and National Assembly.

Tarar also urged opposition lawmakers to participate in the committee despite their political differences, stressing that parliamentary oversight was an important part of the process.

The proposal was unanimously approved, giving the Speaker authority to determine the committee’s composition and make adjustments to its terms of reference where required.

The National Assembly subsequently adjourned its sitting indefinitely.

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Defence Minister Khawaja Asif called on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers to end their boycott and participate in the parliamentary investigation.

He said the deaths of the newborns represented an irreversible loss and stressed that those responsible should face the strictest punishment.

Asif also urged lawmakers to attend relevant health committee proceedings and work collectively to establish accountability. He supported keeping the proceedings open so that the public could follow the investigation.

Health minister accepts responsibility

Health Minister Mustafa Kamal described the deaths as an enormous tragedy and said there could be no justification for the loss of 14 innocent lives.

Kamal told lawmakers that, as health minister, he accepted responsibility for the ministry and wanted the investigation to establish the facts rather than become another prolonged inquiry.

He opposed imposing an arbitrary 40-day deadline on the proposed committee, arguing that investigators could uncover additional issues linked to the tragedy.

“Whoever is responsible, not a single person will be spared,” Kamal said, pledging that the government would provide the committee with whatever information it required.

At the same time, he called for the inquiry to produce results quickly. He said investigators should ideally reach conclusions within eight to 10 days rather than allowing the process to continue indefinitely.

Warning against inquiries that never conclude

Kamal said previous incidents had shown how lengthy investigations could weaken accountability. He argued that when inquiries continue for years, public attention eventually fades and major tragedies risk being forgotten.

He cited earlier incidents, including the Gul Plaza fire, as examples where investigations had failed to produce visible outcomes.

According to Kamal, parliament’s responsibility extends beyond legislation to include oversight and accountability of state institutions.

“This accountability should be swift,” he said, warning that delays could undermine public confidence in the process.

He also proposed that lawmakers outside the health committee should be allowed to participate in the proceedings so that representatives from all political parties could contribute.

Kamal further called for the committee’s proceedings to remain open to the public, saying transparency would strengthen the accountability process.

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PIMS tragedy raises wider health concerns

The health minister said the deaths should also be viewed within the broader context of child and maternal mortality in Pakistan.

Kamal cited an annual figure of around 400,000 deaths among children aged between one and five, while also pointing to approximately 11,000 maternal deaths each year.

He said the figures demonstrated that the country faced wider structural challenges in protecting mothers and children and that the PIMS tragedy should not be treated as an isolated incident.

The minister said he had reviewed extensive health data but had avoided blaming previous officeholders for the problems facing the sector.

Government announces compensation

The PIMS tragedy has already triggered an official investigation alongside the parliamentary initiative.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif previously ordered a probe into the incident, while authorities began examining the circumstances surrounding the fire and the hospital’s emergency response.

The government has also announced Rs5 million compensation for each affected family.

The parliamentary committee is now expected to examine the cause of the fire, the hospital’s safety arrangements, the emergency response and whether any negligence contributed to the deaths.

For lawmakers, the central question is no longer simply how the fire started, but whether weaknesses in hospital safety and emergency preparedness allowed a preventable disaster to become a tragedy that claimed the lives of 14 newborns.