The Pakistan government has announced financial compensation for the families of the 14 children who died in the PIMS tragedy, ARY News reported on Thursday.
Fourteen infants were killed on Wednesday morning in a fire at the gynaecology ward of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Islamabad’s premier public hospital.
According to a statement issued by the federal government spokesperson, compensation of Rs. 5 million per family has been announced for the relatives of each child who lost their life in the tragedy.
The statement said that the federal government shares the grief and sorrow of the affected families. However, it added that no amount of financial compensation can make up for the precious human lives lost.
The federal government spokesperson said that the newborn children cannot be brought back, but the compensation is an effort to help ease the difficulties faced by the grieving families. The government will provide all possible support and assistance to the affected families.
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Earlier, victims of the PIMS hospital fire spoke to the media and demanded a judicial commission to investigate the incident.
According to sources, the affected families said DNA tests of the children who died in the fire were not conducted.
They said that if such a tragedy had occurred in another country, the entire system would have been shaken.
The victims said those who cannot handle their ministries should step down. The affected parents said the real issue is that the government has formed a committee to investigate the PIMS incident.
They said bureaucrats are appointed to inquiry committees after every tragedy, but no one is ready to accept the committee formed for the PIMS incident.
The affected parents demanded that a judicial commission should be formed to investigate the PIMS tragedy.
