Door was locked at Pakistan hospital where fire killed 14 babies, witnesses say

It was just after dawn on Wednesday morning at a maternity ward in the Pakistani capital when a horrific blaze erupted.

It would go on to kill 14 infants as parents say they waited hours for help to arrive.

Hivsa Walid was near the room at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) hospital with her sister-in-law, who had given birth days earlier. She initially heard a shout and thought a patient had died - but then she saw smoke.

The pair fled with the baby, who is so small she does not yet have a name.

"We didn't even think about our belongings. We just grabbed the baby and rushed downstairs.

"Some patients had delivered their babies just that night. I don't even know how we managed to get down - it was all a blur."

The fire broke out in an air-conditioning unit on the third floor of the mother and child unit at PIMS, one of the main state-run hospitals in Islamabad. Only one of the 15 babies present was saved.

Khurram Mehmood, 40, told AFP news agency there was a long wait for rescue workers. "I lost my daughter. She was only three days old," he said.

Jaweria, the mother of another victim, told AFP news agency the door to the maternity ward was locked.

"For two hours I kept crying and wailing," she said. "Police arrived after four hours and said they are here to investigate."

"To hell with you, rescue team and police. Babies burnt to death there, but nobody could save them."

Walid suggested PIMS's safety protocols were inadequate, despite it being a major hospital. "There should have been fire extinguishers and protocols, but no one was doing anything - everyone was just running."

The father of a baby who died told Reuters he had been visiting the ward for eight days and the building had "no fire security, no proper exits".

"All doors were closed, only one door was for us to visit our children. They kept the other doors locked because they feared we would come to see our children too often."