KARACHI, May 16: At least one child patient, Waqar, 10, died and scores of others suffered suffocation and later their condition deteriorated due to the smoke when a fire erupted at the burns ward of the National Institute of Child Health (NICH) on Thursday morning.

The construction of the ward was recently completed with a donation of Rs3 million.

In January, a child, Shoaib, had died at the burns centre as he was excessively sedated by the paramedics. The victim’s father had lodged a complaint with the federal secretary for health, Ejaz Rahim, about this incident and taking cognizance of the complaint, he ordered an inquiry into the incident.

A senior professor of the NICH, Ramzan Sher Ali, was appointed investigating officer to ascertain the factual position into this incident. However, despite several requests by the father of the child, the inquiry report was not made public.

The Thursday’s fire was attributed to stealing away of circuit-breakers of the burns unit and the supply of electricity through direct lines.—PPI