THARPARKAR: Nine people have died after an oxygen cylinder exploded inside a parked ambulance at a health facility in Tharparkar, setting the vehicle alight, rescue officials said.
The ambulance, run by the People’s Primary Healthcare Initiative (PPHI), was parked at the Basic Health Unit Plus facility at Dano Dandhal in Nagarparkar when the blast happened. Staff were fitting a fresh oxygen cylinder as a patient was being prepared for transfer, according to rescue officials and the hospital administration.
A pregnant woman was still inside the ambulance when the cylinder went off, the hospital administration said. The fire spread rapidly through the vehicle, and people standing nearby were caught in the blast.
Early reports put the death toll at seven. It has since risen to nine, after one of the injured died while being transferred to Karachi for treatment, rescue officials said.
Police said those killed included a PPHI dispenser, the ambulance driver, a watchman and another employee, along with the pregnant woman and two attendants. Two midwives and a female attendant at the health centre were among the injured, police said.
The injured were first taken to Civil Hospital Mithi, then shifted to Karachi for further treatment after initial care, according to the Tharparkar senior superintendent of police. Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar took notice of the incident, sought details from the district’s senior police officer and deputy commissioner, and directed that the injured receive immediate treatment. He also expressed condolences to the bereaved families.
Expert teams from Mirpurkhas and Karachi have been called in to examine the evidence, a provincial government spokesperson said. The exact cause of the explosion has not yet been officially confirmed, and officials said work was under way to establish the identities of all the dead, whose bodies were badly burned.
The incident has drawn fresh attention to emergency transport and health facilities in Tharparkar, a largely arid district where residents often depend on public health centres for care. Assistant Commissioner Nagarparkar Erum Karim Narejo confirmed the ambulance was parked at the facility when the explosion happened.
Update, October 30: The death toll has risen to ten after a newborn, Suresh Meghar, died on Thursday at Karachi’s Trauma Centre, Dawn reported on October 30. Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has announced compensation of Rs2 million each for the families of those killed.
