Islamabad, Aug 28 (PTI) The Pakistan government on Friday announced compensation of PKR 5 million each for families of 14 infants killed in a devastating fire at a public hospital.
“This is a small effort to share in their sorrow,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said while announcing the compensation.
The incident occurred on Wednesday in the gynaecology ward of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in the capital, sparking anger over the failure of authorities to save the newborns.
Chaudhry said he would visit PIMS to hand over a cheque to one of the affected families, adding that the compensation amount would be deposited in the accounts of the deceased children’s mothers.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Mustafa Kamal, while addressing the Senate, the upper house of Parliament, promised a fair investigation and assured that those responsible would be held accountable.
“No one intends to spare or save anyone. I am saying this on behalf of the prime minister and the entire government that not a single person will be spared,” he said.
Kamal said the incident should not be treated as an issue that would be forgotten after a few days and called for accountability and measures to prevent such incidents in the future.
He also urged senators to help find a way forward and assured them of the government’s support.
The minister said the health sector situation in the country was not ideal and claimed that 400,000 children between the ages of one and five die every year, while 1,300 die every day.
“They are all dying preventable deaths,” he said.
Kamal said the inquiry committee constituted by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would submit its report by Friday night.
The National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament, unanimously approved a resolution calling for an impartial inquiry into the incident and expressing condolences to the affected families.
The resolution called upon the government to “take strict action against anyone responsible for negligence or safety lapses in accordance with the law”.
On Thursday, a parliamentary health committee headed by its chairman Mahesh Kumar concluded that the exact source of the fire at PIMS remained unclear, as conflicting accounts from hospital staff made it impossible to pinpoint how or where the blaze began. PTI SH SKS GSP
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