Staff nurse Razia Noreen was at a medicine cupboard on the nursery ward of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Islamabad’s largest public-sector hospital. She was two doors from the babies in her care, preparing the morning’s injections, when she saw a sharp red light through the nursery’s glass panel. It was 6:38am on Wednesday, August 26, according to security camera timestamps later logged by a government inquiry committee. According to Al Jazeera.

Prominent Actions and Tragic Outcome

Noreen rushed into the nursery and eight seconds later emerged carrying a baby. She tried to go back in but could not. By 6:40am, the room was gone, swallowed by smoke so thick that the security cameras could no longer see through it. The baby she carried out was the only one who lived, according to Al Jazeera. Fifteen newborns had been in that nursery, and 14 died.

In a first interview with international media, Noreen told The Associated Press, “I wanted to save the others. I did not lose hope.” But the nursery was rapidly becoming impossible to enter. Noreen and another nurse dropped to the floor, where the smoke was thinner, and tried to crawl through the doorway. In the smoke, Noreen could see nothing and began coughing so violently that she struggled to breathe. Still, she tried to move forward until the flames forced her back, according to the Associated Press.

Government Inquiry and Aftermath

A government inquiry said Noreen was inside the room for just eight seconds and that the conditions in the nursery “deteriorated catastrophically within approximately two minutes.” The CCTV footage of the fire showed Noreen running into the nursery and emerging with the newborn in her arms. The clip was 51 seconds long, according to the Associated Press. On Thursday, Noreen was given an award by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for her courage, according to Al Jazeera.

Eight days after the fire, Noreen was recalling the event in a plain office beside the hostel warden’s room at PIMS, dressed in a pale pink shalwar kameez, her dupatta loose over one shoulder. She told Al Jazeera, “There was a proper blast. Everything turned to smoke.”

Public Response and Ongoing Controversy

Pakistan suspended eight officials over the hospital fire, according to Al Jazeera. The fire led to widespread grief and anger, according to another report. Many Pakistanis have hailed Noreen as a national hero. However, the nurse said the trauma of that Wednesday morning was still raw. “I could not save the rest,” Noreen said in her first interview with international media. According to the Associated Press.

Recommended stories included reports on the fire’s impact, the suspension of officials, and the death toll. The incident has sparked a broader conversation about hospital safety and infant care in Pakistan.