ISLAMABAD: After the lone baby, who survived the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) fire incident, died, a confusion has arisen over whether the family would be paid compensation or not.

As many as 14 newborn babies died after a fire erupted in the neonatal ward of the hospital last month. One baby was saved by a nurse. The government announced Rs10 million reward for the nurse Razia Noreen and Rs5 million each for the family of the babies who died.

According to hospital sources, the 15th baby, who was rescued by the nurse, remained in critical condition and later died.

“There was hardly any chance of her survival as she was born after six months of pregnancy and was continuously facing complications,” sources said.

Executive Director Pims Dr Mohammad Salman, while talking to Dawn, said after getting information, he directed that an ambulance be provided to the family at the hospital’s expense to shift the deceased baby to their native village in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

“However I am not sure whether the compensation of Rs5 million will be provided to the family or not,” he said.

A senior officer of the health ministry, wishing not to be named, said last time the decision to pay the compensation was not taken by the health ministry so he was not able to confirm if the compensation will be provided or not.

“There can be two possibilities or arguments for the compensation. Ideally compensation should be given to the family as the baby was shifted from the ward and it might have affected her heath. Second argument is that the baby was totally unharmed so the compensation cannot be given. However such decisions are made at much higher offices,” he said.

The father of the deceased baby could not be contacted as his mobile phone was continuously found switched off.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2026