Govt announces Rs5m compensation for families affected by Pims fire

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry announced Rs5 million compensation for each family affected by the https://www.dawn.com/news/2025385/14-infants-killed-in-fire-at-pims-gynae-ward-in-islamabad">fire at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) that claimed the lives of 14 infants.

Recalling Wednesday’s incident while speaking to the media at Pims, Chaudhry lamented that 14 infants had fallen victim to “someone’s criminal negligence”.

He added that the prime minister had constituted an inquiry committee that was expected to present its report today, assuring that all those “on-duty individuals found guilty of negligence will be given exemplary punishment”.

The minister said the grief of the affected families could not be compensated for.

“Neither can their children be brought back, nor can their grief be reduced,” he added. “But to provide some relief […] the prime minister has announced that Rs5 million will be given to all the affected families.”

Chaudhry said he was visiting Pims to hand over a cheque to one of the affected families on behalf of the prime minister, adding that the compensation amount would be deposited in the accounts of the deceased children’s mothers.

“This is a small effort to share their sorrow,” he remarked.

Responding to a question about demands for DNA tests of the bodies, he said most of the deceased children died in the incident not because they were burnt but because of suffocation due to smoke.

“So all of them could be identified,” he said, adding that after birth, infants had tags with their mothers’ names on their arms. “So they were easily identified.”

More to follow