6 newborns die in Pakistan hospital fire, several injured

, Jun 7: Six

babies died while several others bore serious burn injuries when a

broke out in the nursery ward of a leading hospital in here on Thursday, officials said. Khwaja Salman Raafique, a special assistant to Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, confirmed that six babies had died of burn injuries.

Reports said over ten babies were injured in the incident at the Services Hospital. Officials said one baby was killed instantly while the others died later. Several babies were in a critical condition, they said.

According to nurse Khalida Zaidi, 17 babies were in the nursery ward on the second floor of the hospital when the fire broke out at 3.15 pm. "The staff rushed to the nursery on seeing smoke and tried to rescue the babies. Some babies were in incubators," she said. Workers of the state-run Rescue 1122 service too joined the rescue efforts.

Farooq Ahmed, a spokesman for the rescue service, said the officials managed to rescue seven babies and rushed them to the emergency ward. A medical superintendent said doctors were doing their best to save the children who were in a critical condition. The apparent cause of the fire was an electrical short circuit, it is learnt.

PTI