Lawyers protest outside the hospital. — DawnNewsTV
Patients, some in ambulances, were unable to reach the hospital while those receiving treatment were left unattended due to the chaos.
The lawyers also attacked media personnel on the site with stones. A DawnNewsTV female reporter, Kinza Malik, was injured and her phone was snatched from her.
An eyewitness outside the Services Hospital told DawnNewsTV that a group of lawyers had fired outside the hospital. He added that the lawyers were cursing police officials who were trying to control the situation.
Punjab Information Minister Fayyazul Hasan Chauhan, who had arrived at the hospital, said that "lawyers had tried to kidnap" him. In a video, he can be seen being manhandled by a group of protesting lawyers.
Police used tear gas and resorted to baton charges in an attempt to disperse the lawyers, who had gathered at the hospital in large numbers. The president and secretary of the Lahore High Court Bar Association also arrived at PIC to convince the angry lawyers to leave the hospital.
Lahore DIG Operations, who had also arrived at the hospital, said that those who took the law into their own hands will be dealt with strongly.
Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmeen Rashid was also at the hospital.
Meanwhile, Young Consultants Association (YCA) announced a nationwide strike after the violent protest. President of the YCA Dr Hammad Butt said that on Thursday no consultant will be on duty all across Punjab. "The vandalism by lawyers is highly condemnable," he said.
Chief Minister Buzdar, who was in Islamabad to hold meetings with PTI MNAs, assured that action will be taken against those responsible for the violence. He said that he was headed to Lahore and had directed the authorities to submit a report of the incident.
The chief minister ordered an investigation into the attack and summoned a report from the Lahore Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) and provincial secretary of specialised health and medical education. The premier summoned a report from the provincial chief secretary and inspector general.
When asked why the government had not taken notice of tensions between doctors and lawyers earlier, Buzdar said that the matter had been resolved.
'Inhumane and criminal'
Prime minister's aide Firdous Ashiq Awan condemned the violence and said: "Lawlessness is not acceptable at any cost.
"The manhandling of provincial minister Fayyazul Hassan Chauhan, vandalism and harassment of poor patients and their attendants is extremely condemnable and regrettable," she tweeted.
"Those who wear the uniform of law will have to obey the law."
The Punjab chief minister termed the incident "intolerable" in a statement. "No one is above the law," he said after the protest broke out.
"Such an incident at a hospital for cardiology is intolerable. To create hurdles for patients receiving treatment is inhumane and a criminal act," he said.
In a tweet, Buzdar later said that he had directed authorities to take action against those responsible "without discrimination".
Human Rights Minister Mazari said it was "absolutely horrifying that those supposed to act in accordance with the law chose to become terrorists when they attacked PIC in Lahore killing patients in the process".
"These lawyers actually murdered patients by pulling off their oxygen masks. This is sheer terrorism - nothing less. Govt must and will act," she wrote.
PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif demanded that a "high level and an unbiased" investigation be held and those involved "should not be forgiven".
"Can anyone compensate for the lives of innocent patients? Punishment should be meted out in accordance with the law," Sharif said in a statement.
"How will the legal and justice system work if the people who implement law start taking the law in their hands?"
He went on to criticise the government's "lack of administration" and said: "The incidents reflect that the government did not understand the gravity of the situation, neither did it show seriousness in preventing it."
Pakistan Bar Council Vice Chairperson Syed Amjad Shah, in a conversation with a news channel, condemned the violence, adding that the protest "was the individual act of a few lawyers".
"Doctors misbehaved with the lawyers first after which the latter turned violent," he claimed. He further said that a committee, chaired by the Punjab Bar Council's chairman, had been formed to investigate the incident.
Additional reporting by Sanaullah Khan, Haseeb Bhatti, Adnan Sheikh and Nadir Guramani.