Tharparkar Ambulance Blast Kills at Least 10 in Sindh

Key takeaways

An oxygen cylinder exploded in an ambulance at a health centre in Tharparkar late on Wednesday, killing at least 10 people. Staff were preparing patients for transfer when the blast set the vehicle on fire. The president and Sindh’s chief minister have ordered investigations, and expert teams are examining what caused the cylinder to fail.

Flat illustration of an ambulance and a large oxygen cylinder in a desert landscape — Illustration: WHAT TODAY?

At least 10 people were killed when an oxygen cylinder exploded inside an ambulance at a government-backed health centre in southern Pakistan late on Wednesday night. The blast, at a People’s Primary Healthcare Initiative (PPHI) facility in Dano Dhandal, in Nagarparkar taluka of Tharparkar district, Sindh, set the ambulance on fire as staff prepared patients for transfer to another hospital.

Police and rescue officials said the dead included health-centre staff, patients and their relatives. Several other people suffered serious burn injuries and were taken to hospital in Mithi, with some later transferred to Karachi for further treatment.

What happened

Rescue officials said the incident happened at about 10:40 p.m. on Wednesday, while a patient was being moved into the ambulance at the rural health centre. Staff were connecting an oxygen cylinder inside the vehicle when it exploded, setting the ambulance ablaze. The vehicle was destroyed in the fire.

Local officials, Rescue 1122 teams and health department staff reached the scene soon after the blast. The injured were given initial treatment before being moved on, and identification of the dead began at hospital.

The reported death toll rose through Thursday. Early reports put it at seven, with five injured. Later reporting, including from the Associated Press, put it at at least 10, after at least one injured person died while being transferred for further treatment. Early figures in a fast-moving incident are often revised, and the higher figure reflects later updates rather than a separate incident. Authorities have not yet released a complete, confirmed list of victims.

The official response

President Asif Ali Zardari expressed grief and called for a swift, transparent investigation, according to a statement from his office, and urged stronger safety measures to prevent similar incidents. Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah also ordered an immediate, transparent investigation and a review of safety arrangements in government ambulances and medical facilities.

Sindh’s home and law minister has sought details from Tharparkar’s senior police and district officers, and expert teams from Mirpurkhas and Karachi have been called in to examine the evidence. No final determination on the precise cause has yet been issued.

Why it matters

The blast raises a direct question about safety in the vehicles on which rural patients depend. In remote districts such as Tharparkar, an ambulance is often the only link between a basic health unit and a district hospital. When a transfer itself becomes dangerous, families lose confidence in a system they already reach only with difficulty.

It also follows another recent hospital-safety tragedy. In August, a fire caused by an exploding air conditioner killed 14 newborns in a nursery at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad; the only baby rescued later died, bringing that toll to 15. The causes differ, but both point to equipment and safety checks in medical settings that cannot be allowed to fail quietly.

What’s next

Three things will determine what happens next: the expert examination of the cylinder and ambulance, which should establish whether the failure was in the equipment, its handling, or both; the reports ordered by the president and the Sindh chief minister, and whether they lead to specific safety changes; and the review of ambulance safety across Sindh, including cylinder handling, maintenance and staff training in rural units.