'How did we get here?'

Stars mourn 14 newborns killed in the PIMS fire, questioning a system repeatedly fails the most vulnerable

The deaths of 14 newborns in a fire at Islamabad's Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) have left Pakistan grieving, while celebrities have turned their anger towards a deeper question: how could babies who were supposed to be safest inside a hospital lose their lives in such circumstances?

The fire tore through parts of the gynaecology ward on Wednesday, killing 14 infants in the neonatal care unit and leaving grieving families confronting an unimaginable loss. Images of rescue workers entering through broken windows and distressed parents quickly spread across television and social media.

For celebrities, however, the tragedy was more than another devastating news story. Their reactions reflected grief, disbelief and mounting frustration over what they described as negligence, institutional failure and the apparent absence of meaningful accountability when children become victims of preventable tragedies.

Actor Mehwish Hayat said she was struggling to process the deaths, particularly because the newborns died in a place where they "should have been safest". She argued that such tragedies could not simply become another headline before public attention moved elsewhere.

"These tragedies cannot simply become another headline," Hayat wrote, calling for answers and accountability and urging society to create conditions in which women, children and vulnerable people could be protected.

Veteran actor Bushra Ansari expressed an equally anguished reaction, questioning the circumstances in which newborns could be killed while other cases involving children, including violence and abuse, continued to emerge. She also urged religious scholars and people from all walks of life to demand justice.

Her words reflected a broader frustration visible across celebrity responses: public mourning, however sincere, could not compensate for institutions failing to protect those least capable of protecting themselves.

Senior actor Mohammed Ahmed also questioned the lack of justice in cases involving children, urging people to open their eyes and demand accountability. His reaction highlighted what has become a recurring concern after tragedies involving vulnerable victims: whether outrage is followed by consequences.

Zara Noor Abbas said she had no words to describe what bereaved mothers must be experiencing. She suggested that repeated incidents involving killings, kidnappings and threats against children were beginning to affect how people viewed their surroundings and their own mental wellbeing.

Veteran actor Rubina Ashraf described the deaths as a "black day" in the country's history and blamed what she called "sheer negligence". Her stark reaction captured the sense of disbelief surrounding the deaths of 14 babies inside a major public hospital.

Actors Sajal Aly and Ayesha Omar similarly pointed towards institutional shortcomings, describing the tragedy as a "failure of the system" and a "systematic failure". Their comments shifted attention from individual grief towards the structures responsible for preventing such incidents.

Other celebrities focused more directly on the families left behind. Zhalay Sarhadi shared a post about a father who had welcomed the birth of his son only to lose his newborn in the fire, saying she had little to offer grieving parents beyond prayers.

Areeba Habib directed her message towards mothers who had spent months waiting for and protecting their unborn children, only to lose them after giving birth. Her words carried a darker warning about the consequences of people failing to care before disaster strikes.

Romaisa Khan described the country as "bleeding" and linked the hospital tragedy to wider cases of murder and rape. She questioned how Pakistan had reached a point where women and children were unsafe, even inside institutions meant to provide protection.

"Women aren't safe in their homes. Children aren't safe," Khan wrote, before questioning how newborns could remain vulnerable inside hospitals. Music producer Umair shared her message while mourning the babies who, he said, never had the opportunity to begin their lives.

Actor Ushna Shah offered sympathy to the bereaved parents while describing the incident as "preventable". Her response added to growing demands that the circumstances surrounding the deaths be examined beyond condolences and temporary public outrage.

Sheheryar Munawar and Bilal Abbas offered brief expressions of grief, sharing broken-heart emojis rather than attempting to put the tragedy into words. Their sparse responses reflected the difficulty many public figures appeared to face in processing such a devastating loss.

Sabeena Farooq focused on the immediate human consequences, asking about the status of the infants. Ahsan Khan and Nadia Afghan also reshared a video showing a mother carrying her child, urging authorities to hand over the remains of her baby.

Zara Noor Abbas broadened the conversation by warning that repeated tragedies could deepen public frustration and erode confidence in law and order. She questioned why successive incidents continued to occur without people being held properly answerable.

Zunaira Inam Khan was similarly blunt, describing the fire as more than a terrible accident and attributing it to what she called criminal negligence and mismanagement. Her reaction reflected the belief that the deaths demand scrutiny rather than sympathy alone.

Azeekah Daniel criticised what she called an "incompetent system", arguing that concern for human life often appeared to last only for a week or two before public attention shifted towards another tragedy or breaking news.

Ahsan Khan, Samar Jafri, Bilal Abbas, Azeekah Daniel and Sabeena Farooq were among other celebrities who shared messages and videos mourning the deaths and drawing attention to the grief of families who had lost their newborn children.

Beyond the Instagram posts, videos and expressions of grief, one question now hangs over the tragedy: "How did we get here?" For the stars who spoke out, the answer cannot simply be another condolence, another headline or another week of outrage.