At least eight people were killed when an oxygen cylinder exploded inside a parked ambulance at a Basic Health Unit (BHU) Plus facility in Nagarparkar, in Pakistan's Tharparkar district in Sindh province, on Wednesday night, police said. The ambulance, operated by the People's Primary Healthcare Initiative (PPHI), caught fire while staff were changing its oxygen cylinder, rescue officials said.

Source: IANS via Hi India

Hospital officials said a pregnant woman was still inside the ambulance when staff began fitting the oxygen cylinder, and an explosion during the process triggered the fire. Assistant Commissioner Nagarparkar Erum Karim Narejo said the ambulance was parked at the health facility when the explosion occurred.

Source: The News

Police said those killed included a PPHI dispenser, the ambulance driver, a watchman and another employee, as well as a pregnant woman and two attendants, according to earlier information from rescue officials. Police said two midwives and a female attendant at the health centre were among the injured.

The toll was still being updated on Thursday. Police and the Tharparkar deputy commissioner initially put the deaths at eight, with four to five people injured. The News reported in its text that the toll had climbed to nine after an injured person died while being taken to Karachi, while DNA, reported by Islamabad Post, put the toll at 10 on the same basis. Authorities were still working to establish the identities of the deceased, and the cause of the explosion has not yet been officially confirmed.

Source: Islamabad Post / DNA

The injured were shifted to Civil Hospital Mithi and onwards to Karachi for treatment, while district administration, rescue and health department teams reached the scene. Expert teams from Mirpurkhas and Karachi have been called in to examine the evidence, a provincial government spokesperson said.

Sindh Home Minister and Law Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar took notice of the incident and sought details from the Tharparkar senior superintendent of police and the deputy commissioner, according to a spokesperson. He directed officials to ensure immediate medical assistance for the injured and expressed condolences to the families of those who died.

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday expressed deep grief over the loss of lives in the explosion, offered condolences to the bereaved families and prayed for the recovery of the injured, APP reported. He called for a transparent investigation to determine the exact cause and stressed effective safety measures to prevent such incidents.

Source: APP via Tez Khabar

Separate highway blast in Sukkur the same night

In a separate incident the same night in Sindh, at least two people were killed when a gas bowser collided with another heavy vehicle on the National Highway near the Rohri Interchange in Sukkur district, police told IANS. Five other people were reported critically injured in that blast and six vehicles were damaged or destroyed. That incident is separate from the Tharparkar ambulance explosion.

Source: IANS via Hi India