ISLAMABAD – PIMS Executive Director Rana Imran Sikandar has said the newborns who died in a fire at the hospital’s nursery did not die from burns but from inhaling smoke and soot.
He said the infants were identified through identification tags placed around their wrists, which remained intact, eliminating the need for DNA testing. According to him, DNA tests would only have been required if the bodies had been unidentifiable.
PIMS officials said 15 newborns were present in the nursery when the fire broke out, with one infant rescued. Hospital staff attempted to enter the nursery to save the babies, but the ceiling collapsed following an explosion.
Some relatives had earlier raised concerns over the identification of the bodies without DNA testing.
Meanwhile, National Assembly Standing Committee on Health member Dr Shazia Sobia said after visiting PIMS that she was informed that 40 to 50 babies, rather than 15, were present in the nursery. She questioned how the infants were handed over to families without DNA tests.
