A patient has died and a paramedic is in critical condition after an ambulance seemingly exploded and caught fire outside a hospital in Hawaii.
The blast occurred late on Wednesday night outside Adventist Health Castle hospital in Kailua. A paramedic who was in the front of the vehicle also received treatment and is in stable condition.
Emergency Services Director Dr Jim Ireland told the press it was unclear what prompted the explosion.
“This is something I’ve never seen before,” he said, according to Hawaii News Now.
“We had an ambulance tonight for reasons we don’t understand catch on fire, possibly explode, prior to entering the hospital,” he added.
He noted that the patient who died was in the back of the emergency vehicle alongside the paramedic, who has spent eight years working for the city.
Dr Ireland told members of the media that the paramedic has been taken to the Straub Medical Center.
“All our paramedics, EMTs and dispatchers are all treasured members of our staff and or family, they save lives every day, and it’s just very hard to be in a situation where our team is the ones who are injured. I’ll just leave it at that,” Dr Ireland said.
“It’s been a very difficult night,” Chris Sloman, the Acting Chief of Emergency Medical Services, told the press. “We ask for everyone’s prayers and thoughts for the family of the patient that’s deceased and for the paramedic that’s been injured in the line of duty.”
The fire is being investigated by the Honolulu Fire Department. Footage taken by a witness shows large amounts of smoke coming from the ambulance as firefighters worked to put it out.
“This just happened. It’s a very difficult situation for us,” Dr Ireland told the press. “We’re all just very concerned about our team and of course the patient who lost their life tonight in the ambulance.”
