Welding Work Conducted Inside Karachi Hospital Nursery With Newborns Present
A video showing welding work being carried out inside a nursery of the National Institute of Child Health (NICH) in Karachi, with newborn babies present, has raised fresh concerns over safety standards at public hospitals.
The video shows newborns lying on beds while welding work is being conducted nearby. Sources said between 80 and 120 babies were present in the nursery at the time, with most reportedly dependent on oxygen.
According to sources, repair work was being carried out in the emergency department’s nursery to create an emergency exit route. However, the work was conducted while newborns remained inside the area.
The hospital administration did not respond to multiple attempts by Geo News to seek clarification about the incident.
The video surfaced weeks after a deadly fire at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad killed 15 newborns on August 26, including 14 who died during the fire and another who died later.
An inquiry into the PIMS fire identified an electrical fault in the supply cable of an air conditioner as the most probable cause of ignition. However, the report described the tragedy as the result of “systematic and institutional failures.”
The report found that the fire became visible at around 6:38am and dense smoke engulfed the nursery within one to two minutes, leaving an “exceptionally narrow rescue window.”
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