A video showing welding work being carried out inside the nursery of Karachi’s National Institute of Child Health (NICH) with newborn babies close by, has surfaced online, raising concerns about repair work taking place around infants.
The video, obtained by a private media outlet, shows newborns lying on beds inside the NICH nursery as welding is carried out nearby. Between 80 and 120 babies were present in the nursery, with most of the newborns hooked up to oxygen.
Repair work was being carried out in the emergency department’s nursery to create an emergency exit route. The hospital administration did not respond to multiple attempts to seek comment on the work shown in the video.
The incident occurred weeks after a fire at the gynaecology ward of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad claimed the lives of 15 infants on August 26. Fourteen infants died during the fire, while one died later.
Following the PIMS fire, Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif suspended officials and ordered action against them.
A comprehensive inquiry into the fire found that an electrical fault in the supply cable of air conditioner number two was the most probable cause of ignition. The report also concluded that the catastrophe resulted from “systematic and institutional failures”.
According to the inquiry report, the fire became visible at approximately 6:38am, while dense smoke engulfed the nursery within one to two minutes.
