Portugal Colonial - Acrid stench, charred walls reveal devastation of Pakistan infant ward fire

The door of the former nursery for premature babies was blown off and the room is now a black hole at the end of a brightly lit corridor in Islamabad's Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, the capital's leading public hospital.

The acrid smell of smoke hung over the area and a soft chatter of voices rose as officials streamed in and out, taking notes as investigations began into why the fire broke out around dawn on Wednesday.

Outside the ward, staff used water to clean the floor, while others rubbed soot and grime off the walls.

Just a few metres away, life was returning to the hospital, with patients admitted to wards while doctors and nurses bustled around the facility's maze-like corridors.

But tensions remained palpable, with police and security personnel patrolling inside the ward -- a special facility for mothers and children -- while guards carrying assault rifles or long sticks stood outside the entrance and on the building's grounds.

The heightened nervousness was underscored by security guards blocking photographers and videojournalists from entering the hospital.

A nurse, who was visibly unsettled and asked not to be identified, told AFP that the hospital was probing the circumstances of the fire and "doesn't want its reputation to be damaged any further".

"When the fire broke out, everything happened within minutes," the nurse said.

"People are right, we ran for our lives because by then it was too late. The fire had spread everywhere, and there was nothing we could do."

The national government has already launched an investigation, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reportedly personally supervising the process.

However, authorities have also defended the response times of emergency services on what was a public holiday, saying they arrived within minutes, while families at the hospital claimed it took them hours to turn up.

Sitting on the ground outside the hospital's entrance was a father who had lost his newborn son, and was now haunted by fears his wife might also die.

"I lost my baby, but I am here today because my wife is in critical condition," Idrees Khan told AFP as his eyes welled up in tears.

"She had to leave the hospital yesterday (because of the fire), right after she was operated on, but she is not doing well."

- Father's plea -

Nearby, a news conference by the head of Pakistan's parliamentary health committee over the cause of the fire was interrupted by a distraught father clasping his palms together in a plea.

His wife was waiting to undergo a caesarean section at the ward, which serves patients on modest incomes, but was told that she had to take her baby and leave after the procedure.

"You care about the dead babies, which is great, but what about those who are alive? They say there is no nursery here," he said.

"They want me to sign a paper that says that if the baby dies due to lack of a nursery, they won't be responsible."

P.Mira--PC