Claim: Video shows a fire drill being conducted at PIMS Hospital, Islamabad following the death of 14 newborn babies in a nursery fire.
Fact: The video is from Capital Hospital in Islamabad, not PIMS.
On 10 September 2026, former deputy speaker of the National Assembly Qasim Khan Suri shared a video of a group of people trying to put out a small fire in a garden with the help of fire extinguishers, and pointed out how the gas in the cylinders is unable to put out the fire. The caption reads:
پمز ہسپتال میں انتظامیہ کی فائر بریگیڈ کے تعاون سے آگ بجھانے کی ریہرسل، دو نمبر حکومت کیطرح سلنڈروں میں آگ بجھانے والی گیس بھی دو نمبر ہی نکلی۔ ڈاکٹرز، نرسز ودیگر سٹاف نے سپرے کر کے سلنڈرز خالی کر دیئے مگر معمولی گتوں سے لگائی گئی آگ بھی نہ بجھ سکی۔
#مینڈیٹ_چور_شریف_مافیا
“#مینڈیٹ_چور_اردلی_حکومت
[Translation: “During a fire-extinguishing drill conducted by the PIMS Hospital administration with the assistance of the fire brigade, the fire-suppressing gas inside the cylinders—much like the government itself—turned out to be counterfeit. Doctors, nurses, and other staff emptied the cylinders by spraying them, yet they failed to extinguish even a fire started with ordinary cardboard.
#MandateThiefSharifMafia
#MandateThiefLackeyGovernment”]
PIMS tragedy
On 26 August, a fire in the gynaecology ward of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) killed 14 infants.
According to Dawn, several witnesses stated they “waited hours” for rescue officials to arrive. “They were forced to smash through windows to try and get to the neonatal intensive care unit. Others said they came across locked doors and alleged guards prevented those inside the building from leaving as the fire raged,” an excerpt from the report reads.
On the other hand, PIMS administration stated that the fire was caused by a spark in the ward around 6:38am and erupted massively due to oxygen points connected to the incubators. The hospital further stated that two doctors and nurses responded immediately and saved a baby in the ward, four in an adjacent room, and three mothers. PIMS Executive Director Rana Imran Sikandar told media that the door of the ward wasn’t locked but “manned” because of previous incidents involving child theft.
On the same day, Minister of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination Mustafa Kamal arrived from Karachi and told reporters that if found negligent, he would present himself in front of his superiors. Kamal assured that the incident is being investigated by “experts and different institutions” and all the facts will be publicised. When asked if he was going to tender his resignation, the minister said, “As I have said before, whoever is responsible will not be spared. I have said what I can, and I wish I could say more, but the prime minister is my boss, and whatever his orders will be, I can only say that.”
Later that day, a report by CDA’s Directorate of Emergency and Disaster Management noted that “fire and life-safety arrangements were inadequate and compromised.” It said, “Emergency exits/escape routes were found permanently locked from outside / obstructed,” adding that hospital security staff “created hindrance to the initial response of the fire crew.” It listed an “electric short circuit / plug overload” as the probable cause of the fire, but the main cause remained under investigation.
A copy of the report shared by 92 News reporter Saqib Bashir.
Following the incident, on 27 August, the government announced Rs 5 million compensation for each affected family. On 29 August, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered the suspension of eight officials and directed that criminal proceedings be initiated against them. The suspended officials included PIMS ED Prof Dr Imran Sikandar, head of neonatology at Children Hospital Prof Dr Sadia Riaz, senior registrar in the neonatology department Dr Nagham, joint executive director, MCH Dr Mutahir Shah, joint executive director (non-medical) PIMS Ch Waris Ali Raza, director MCH Dr Nosheela Amjad, director general CES CDA Dr Abdul Rehman and assistant director (security) Muhammad Usman.
On the day of the fire, the PM also formed an inquiry committee, headed by former Interior Secretary Shahid Khan, to conduct a high-level investigation into the fire. On 15 September, the committee presented its findings and recommendations in a detailed 43-page report. It stated that PIMS and its “senior management bear the principal institutional responsibility for failing to convert known risks, prior warnings and assigned duties into an effective safety system”. An excerpt mentioned by Dawn reads: “Administrative, disciplinary, contractual and criminal responsibility must attach only where the relevant duty, omission and causal consequence are proved.”
Taking the CCTV footage of the incident into account, the committee rejected any “generalised allegation that frontline personnel abandoned the newborns”. It noted that Charge Nurse Nasreen Akhtar, Security Guard Maria Saleem and Staff Nurse Razia Noreen responded actively and “acted promptly and courageously in circumstances that became untenable within minutes”.
On 4 September, PM Shehbaz met Nurse Noreen and awarded her with a cheque for Rs10 million for rescuing an infant from the burning ward. In an interview with Arab News, Noreen said, “Has any mother ever saved a child with the expectation of getting a reward? I saved those babies as a mother. I wanted to save all the babies but I couldn’t. I could only save one.”. Additionally, on 16 September, President Asif Ali Zardari also approved the award of Tamgha-i-Shujaat for Noreen.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check conducted a reverse-image search of the video to trace its original source. It led to several other posts sharing the same claim on Facebook, however, one user specified that the video shows a fire drill being conducted at Capital Hospital, Islamabad in the aftermath of the fire at PIMS. The caption reads:
پمز ہسپتال اسلام آباد میں 14 نومولود بچوں کے جھلس کر وفات پانے کے بعد ، انتظامیہ capital hospital نے فائر بریگیڈ کے تعاون سے ہسپتال میں آگ بجھانے کی ریہرسل کی، آگ نے فائر بریگیڈ کا بھی پول کھول دیا سلنڈروں میں آگ بجھانے والی گیس ہی دو نمبر نکلی ، ڈاکٹرز ، نرسیں اور دیگر سٹاف نے سپرے کر کے سلنڈر ختم کر دئیے مگر معمولی گتوں سے لگائی آگ بھی نہ بجھ سکی
[Translation: “Following the tragic death of 14 newborns due to burns at PIMS Hospital, Islamabad, the hospital administration—in collaboration with the fire brigade—conducted a fire-extinguishing drill. The exercise exposed the fire brigade’s shortcomings, as the gas inside the extinguishers turned out to be substandard; doctors, nurses, and other staff exhausted the canisters spraying them, yet even a fire started with ordinary cardboard could not be extinguished.”]
Taking cues from the building visible in the background of the clip, Soch Fact Check compared a screengrab with pictures of both the hospitals as found on Google. A green-colored board and the overall appearance of the building matched with the images of Capital Hospital, not PIMS.
Top: A screengrab of the video under investigation. Bottom: An image of Capital Hospital CDA, Islamabad available on Google.
On 4 September, the hospital also shared images and a video from the drill on their Facebook page.
Visuals from the fire drill of Capital Hospital CDA, Islamabad shared on their Facebook page on 4 September 2026.
The background of the video and visuals shared on Capital Hospital CDA’s Facebook page confirm that the clip is not from PIMS Hospital.
Virality
Soch Fact Check first came across the video on PTI politician Qasim Khan Suri’s Facebook account where it received 20,300 likes and 3,200 shares.
The clip was also posted on the Instagram pages of news outlets like The Express Tribune and 92 News where it received 333,000 and 622,000 views, respectively.
Conclusion: The viral video of a fire drill being conducted with seemingly unviable fire extinguishers is from Capital Hospital CDA, Hospital, not PIMS.
To appeal against our fact-check, please send an email to appeals@sochfactcheck.com