Karachi: At least 10 people, including a woman, were killed after an oxygen cylinder exploded inside an ambulance in Pakistan's Sindh province on Thursday, a senior police official said. The incident occurred in the Nagarparkar area of Tharparkar district when the ambulance was transporting the woman from a basic health centre in Dano Dhandhal to the district hospital in Mithi city.
What happened inside ambulance?
"Ten deaths have been confirmed so far, including the woman," Tharparkar Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Arif Aziz Jaffri said, adding that the woman was being transferred to the hospital following complications after childbirth. Jaffri said the cylinder exploded while the ambulance driver was moving it inside the vehicle. He said an inquiry had been ordered into the incident and further investigation is underway.
Images circulating on social media and television broadcasts showed flames engulfing a vehicle, with one of its doors left open. Another photograph showed the vehicle’s charred remains outside a building, while people gathered nearby.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari expressed deep sorrow over the loss of lives and called for a swift and transparent investigation into the incident to establish the cause, according to a statement issued by his office.
He also stressed the need for stronger safety measures to prevent similar tragedies in the future. Zardari extended his condolences to the bereaved families and wished those injured a speedy recovery.
15 killed in hospital fire in August
In a separate tragedy in August, a fire reportedly caused by an air conditioner explosion claimed the lives of 14 newborns at a nursery in the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad. The only infant initially rescued from the nursery later died weeks after the incident, taking the final death toll to 15.
(With inputs from agency)
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