At least nine people have lost their lives after the explosion of an oxygen cylinder in an ambulance that was parked in front of a hospital in the Pakistani town of Zarparkar, in the province of Sindh, in the southeast of the country, according to the authorities.
The deputy commissioner of Mizi, Hamid Jagirani, has explained that the accident occurred on Wednesday night, at the moment when the oxygen cylinder was being transported to attend to a patient who remained in the ambulance after giving birth.
The woman had given birth in the hospital and was being referred to a health center in Mizi due to complications, according to the information published by the Pakistani newspaper "Dawn". For the moment, the reasons for the deflagration are unknown, which has caused several victims among the hospital's health personnel.
The president of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, has expressed his regret over the "tragic incident" and has sent his condolences to the relatives of the deceased. Likewise, he has called for a "transparent" investigation and has underlined the importance of "strengthening security measures to prevent such tragic incidents from happening again in the future".