A malfunctioning air conditioner turned a government hospital's newborn nursery into a death trap before dawn on Wednesday in Pakistan's capital, killing at least 14 infants and igniting public fury over the state of the country's public health system.

The fire broke out around 6:45 a.m. local time on the third floor of the Mother and Child Centre at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad, the city's largest public hospital, according to reporting from the scene. Officials say the blaze started when a compressor inside the nursery's air-conditioning unit exploded, sending thick black smoke through a ward housing at least 15 newborns. Only one infant was pulled out alive.

Local broadcaster Geo TV has put the death toll as high as 15, while the federal government has confirmed 14. Either figure ranks it, per Al Jazeera's account of the disaster, among the deadliest hospital fires in Pakistan's modern history.

"Why Were They Not There?"

Grieving parents who rushed to PIMS described chaos and a delayed response. Khurram Mehmood, 40, said his three-day-old daughter died in the blaze, telling reporters the fire erupted around 6 a.m. but that rescue crews and hospital authorities did not reach the ward until roughly 9 a.m., leaving families "sitting on the road waiting for help." Another mother, Jaweria, who also lost her newborn, alleged medical staff had abandoned the nursery before the fire spread, demanding to know "why did the doctors leave the children there." A third parent, Mudasir, claimed all but one door to the ward had been shut and that there was "no fire security" inside, according to accounts gathered from families outside the hospital. Witnesses said rescuers had to smash windows and break down doors to reach those trapped inside.

"GIVE ME MY CHILD BACK."

Pakistan's public hospitals, which provide subsidized care to millions, have long been criticized by watchdogs as underfunded, overcrowded and poorly maintained, with fire and building codes routinely ignored nationwide. PIMS is a 592-bed flagship facility, and one relative questioned why the neonatal unit continued operating amid renovation work reportedly underway at the site.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called the deaths "an irreparable loss" and ordered an immediate, multiagency investigation into the cause of the fire, how it spread, and whether emergency protocols failed. Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal flew in from Karachi to personally oversee the inquiry, and President Asif Ali Zardari urged hospitals nationwide to strengthen fire-safety measures and called for anyone found responsible to be identified and prosecuted. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi also offered condolences as police were deployed to manage crowds of relatives gathered outside the hospital gates.

The fact-finding committee has been ordered to report within 24 hours, though officials have not said when a fuller accounting of the equipment failure — or the response time families are disputing — will be made public. For now, hospital administrators are still working to formally release the bodies of the youngest victims, some just days old, to parents who arrived at PIMS expecting to carry their newborns home.