‘I could not save the rest’: Hero nurse remembers Pakistan’s nursery fire

What the report says

Al Jazeera reports that staff nurse Razia Noreen has recounted the fire that tore through the nursery ward at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad on August 26, killing 14 of 15 newborns there. Noreen said she was on duty during a routine morning medication round when she saw flames and smoke near the air-conditioning unit and rushed into the ward. Security-camera timestamps cited by a government inquiry place her first entry into the nursery seconds after the blaze began. She carried one baby out alive, but said she could not return because the smoke and heat quickly made the room impassable.

The account describes how Noreen and colleagues, including Sister Nasreen and Dr Rimsha, tried to re-enter the ward and later helped catch and move babies from an adjoining area toward neonatal intensive care. The article says the government’s interim inquiry had not conclusively established the cause of the fire, though it pointed to possible problems involving an air conditioner, an incubator or an electrical short circuit. It also said the evidence did not support claims that staff simply abandoned the infants.

Noreen, who has worked in government nursing for 21 years and at PIMS for 17, was honoured by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday for her actions. She told Al Jazeera that the tragedy left her traumatized and argued that hospitals need regular fire drills, accessible extinguishers and clear evacuation plans for newborn wards. More broadly, the incident has raised questions about safety procedures in Pakistan’s public hospitals and the conditions under which nurses work.