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At least 15 newborns have been killed after a fire broke out at a state-run hospital in Pakistan's capital Islamabad.
It started at around 7am (3am BST) at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), on the third floor of the hospital's mother and child health ward.
There were 16 newborns in the ward when the fire broke out - oly one of whom was rescued.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has now ordered authorities to carry out a probe into the fire.
According to local broadcaster Geo TV, the blaze was triggered by a fault in air conditioning systems.
"Those responsible should be identified, and the strictest action should be taken," Mr Sharif's office said in a statement.
Following the inferno, the ward was cordoned off, with police and ambulances seen outside the hospital building.
The incident is among the deadliest hospital fires in recent years in Pakistan, where healthcare is state-run but woefully mismanaged.
Police and ambulances were seen outside the hospital building following the blaze
|REUTERS
Parents have already alleged that staff were not present in the incubation centre when the fire broke out.
Rescue sources told local media that fire safety arrangements at the hospital were as extremely poor.
There was believed to be no water at the fire point, while couplings were missing from the fire hose.
Like the parents, sources also revealed to Geo TV that neither doctors, ward boys nor other staff were in the room when the blaze started.
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PICTURED: A woman named Javeria, whose newborn died in the fire, is consoled outside the hospital
|REUTERS
Its exact cause is believed to have been an air conditioner compressor, which exploded.
"The fire spread very quickly, and the hospital's electricity also went out immediately with the explosion," Pakistan's Health Minister Mustafa Kamal said.
It struck the same hospital where former Prime Minister Imran Khan was being held just last week.
Mr Khan remains highly popular in Pakistan, but has been imprisoned since August 2023 on "politically motivated" charges.
The fire struck the same hospital where former Prime Minister Imran Khan was being held just last week
|REUTERS
The cricket icon was ousted from office after a fallout with the country's powerful military, sparking massive nationwide protests.
Amid fears for his health he was bussed from the Adiala Jail to Pims on Friday night before returning him to jail.
Mr Khan's sister, Uzma, who attended the examination at PIMS, told media that while her brother is physically fit, he said he was "being repeatedly tortured in prison".