Dawn Images

Pakistanis woke up to heart-wrenching news of a national tragedy on Wednesday as a fire gutted parts of the gynaecology ward at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) in Islamabad.

Visuals of rescue personnel entering the building through broken windows and aggrieved parents crying for children they hadn’t even gotten the chance to name flooded TV screens as an air of intense grief descended over the country.

Celebrities joined the nation in its mourning, with Zhalay Sarhadi sharing a post about a father who had been blessed with a son, only to lose the child in the inferno.

Sarhadi said she had no words to offer except her prayers for the parents who were faced with an unimaginable loss.

Areeba Habib shared a poetic message to the children’s mothers who spent their pregnancies looking out for their unborn kids, only to lose them in a fire. “Some fires begin with a spark. Others begin when someone fails to care,” she wrote.

Mehwish Hayat said she was “struggling to process” the many tragedies hitting Pakistan, adding that the fire at Pims was “yet another heartbreaking reminder of how deeply disturbing things had become”.

She said the hospital where the children died was supposed to be the place they were safest.

Hayat asked how many more women and children had to die before people would get answers, accountability and safety for society’s most vulnerable.

Romaisa Khan struck an even harsher tone, saying the country was “bleeding”. She cited recent cases of murder and rape as further failures of the system.

“Women aren’t safe in their homes. Children aren’t safe. People disappear and are found dead. Even babies aren’t safe inside hospitals. How did we get here?” she asked.

The actor said we couldn’t go on like this, moving on after every loss. She demanded justice and accountability for every woman, child and family failed by the system.

Sharing Khan’s post on his story, music producer Umair mourned the loss of 14 lives “that never even got the chance to begin” and said the deaths should never have happened.

Ushna Shah said she was keeping the bereaved parents close to her heart and called the incident “preventable”.

Mohammed Ahmed said the children who had died on Wednesday would be forgotten soon, just like all the other children who had been killed by the system’s indifference and forgotten after a period of outrage.

“Why is no one ever punished? Why does nobody ask questions? Think of the mothers whose babies burned to death.”

Ahmed implored the authorities to open their eyes and make those responsible face accountability.

Ayesha Omar said Pakistanis were now waking up to horrific news on a daily basis and there was a “systemic failure” in every department. “What is this crazy negligence,” she asked.

She prayed for the families of the young victims to have justice and strength.

Sheheryar Munawar and Bilal Abbas didn’t have any words to express their feelings, sharing broken heart emojis.

A spokesperson from Pims told Dawn on Wednesday that the ward had 15 children in it, one of whom was rescued by a doctor.

In the aftermath of the fire, the federal health secretary has been removed from his post and Health Minister Mustafa Kamal has vowed to bring those responsible to justice with a transparent investigation.