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At Least 14 Newborns Killed in Fire at Islamabad Hospital

11 sources across 10 countries · 1 of them is linked to a state

Who reported this

  • G1 Brazil · Centre-left · Grupo Globo (Marinho family)
  • CNN Brasil Brazil · Centre · Rubens Menin (MRV)
  • Infobae Argentina · Centre-right · Daniel Hadad
  • Frankfurter Allgemeine Germany · Centre-right · FAZIT-Stiftung (foundation)
  • The Indian Express India · Centre · Indian Express Group (Goenka family)
  • The Jerusalem Post Israel · Centre-right · Mirkaei Tikshoret (Eli Azur)
  • Corriere della Sera Italy · Centre-right · RCS MediaGroup (Cairo Communication)
  • Dawn Pakistan · Centre-left · Pakistan Herald Publications (Haroon family)
  • Al Jazeera Qatar · Centre-left · State-affiliated · Qatari government funded
  • Reuters United Kingdom · Centre · Thomson Reuters Corporation
  • CNN United States · Centre-left · Warner Bros. Discovery

What the colours mean

  • Left
  • Centre-left
  • Centre
  • Centre-right
  • Right
  • A hatched block means the outlet is affiliated with, or controlled by, a state.

Political lean describes where an outlet sits within the politics of its own country. It is never a position on a single global scale.

Political lean is comparable inside one country and not across them, which is why the bar groups by country first. Publicly funded broadcasters are not marked as state-linked.

The owner of each outlet is listed as a matter of record, not as a judgement about the outlet.

At least 14 newborns died on Wednesday after a fire broke out in the gynecology ward of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad. Reports on the exact death toll vary across sources, with some stating at least 15 babies died while others report 13 or 14. According to local broadcaster Geo TV and other reports, there were 16 newborns in the nursery at the time of the incident, and only one child was rescued.

The fire started around 7 a.m. local time on the third floor of the facility. Rescue teams and the fire brigade responded to the scene to control the blaze and conduct cooling operations. Officials and rescue sources indicate the fire was likely triggered by a fault in the air conditioning system, specifically an explosion of an air conditioner compressor or a short circuit.

An inquiry committee led by the additional deputy commissioner general has been formed to investigate the tragedy. One witness told Dawn that the nursery was located in a building where repair and renovation work was ongoing. Some reports noted that fires are not uncommon in Pakistan's government hospitals due to outdated electrical systems.

How each side framed it

Centre-left
These outlets focused on the immediate casualty counts and the specific cause related to air conditioning failure.
Centre
These outlets provided a straightforward account of the incident, citing local media and official sources for the facts.
Centre-right
These outlets reported the event as a tragedy and emphasized the role of local media in reporting the death toll.

Sources

100% of the statements in this article were traced back to the source articles listed above.