Pitition filed for judicial inquiry of fire incident at service hospital

Lahore: A local lawyer has filed Writ Petition in the Lahore High Court regarding the fire incident at Services Hospital impleading Secretary Health Punjab and Chief Executive Services Hospital Lahore.

The petitioner Advocate Noshab A. Khan stated that it was the third major fire at Services Hospital in two years. In the recent incident fire broke out in the nursery section of the Services Hospital which caused the death of seven newborn babies and nine others were injured, five of them critically. About 26 underweight and premature babies were under treatment in the unit when it was engulfed in flames. The lives of injured babies were said to be at risk because there was only one nursery unit in the hospital and that had been badly damaged. Apparently caused by an electrical short circuit spread rapidly and engulfed the entire unit, damaging equipment, gadgets, incubators and furniture. Oxygen leak from damaged pipes intensified the fire.

The petitioner has sought directions by the High Court for improving emergency response in hospitals, free treatment for the injured and financial assistance to the families of the dead and injured children and prayed foran inquiry committee headed by a retired judge to ascertain the causes of fire.