Woman on ventilator dies in ambulance after O2 supply cut off in blast on Mumbai-Pune Expressway

NAVI MUMBAI: An Airoli woman on ventilator support died inside an ambulance after her oxygen supply was cut off due to a blast in the cylinder. The victim, Nilabai Kavaldar (74), was being shifted to her native town in Karnataka, for treatment when a short circuit in the engine was followed by two successive blasts in the vehicle, while on the Pune-bound carriageway of the Mumbai Pune Expressway.

Seven people were in the ambulance, including the victim, at the time of the incident, and though everyone had alighted, the woman died due to lack of oxygen. After the first blast, the ambulance started moving in reverse and hit a parked motorcycle. The consequent second blast gutted both the ambulance and the motorcycle. Yogesh Bhosale, assistant inspector, highway safety patrol, Borghat unit, said, "Another ambulance reached the spot, but the woman didn't make it."