A fire caused by a failure in the air conditioning system killed at least 15 newborns on Wednesday morning (26) at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), a state-run hospital in Islamabad, the country's capital, according to local broadcaster Geo TV.

The fire started around 7 a.m. local time in the nursery of the hospital's gynaecology ward. There were 16 newborns in the ward when the flames broke out, and only one was rescued, Geo reported. The blaze was brought under control, and fire crews were still carrying out cooling operations during the morning.

Geo News, citing hospital officials, said the fire began after an air conditioner compressor exploded in the nursery. A PIMS spokesperson told the Pakistani newspaper Dawn that the fire appeared to have been caused by a short circuit and that at least one baby was saved by a doctor.

The death toll varies between sources. While Geo TV and Al Jazeera report at least 15 victims, Dawn and the Reuters news agency put the initial count at at least 14. Reuters images show distraught relatives outside the hospital, including the father of one of the babies being consoled by others.

Fires in neonatal wards have caused earlier tragedies in Pakistan. In 2024, four newborns died in a fire at a hospital in Sahiwal, in Punjab province, and in 2020 a baby died when an incubator caught fire at a children's hospital in Karachi, according to Dawn's archive.