One person died and another was critically injured when an ambulance suddenly caught fire in a possible explosion in Hawaii.

An ambulance from Kaneohe was taking a 91-year-old man in Kailua to Adventist Castle Health hospital on Wednesday night when it suddenly burst into flames.

‘We had an ambulance tonight, for reasons we don’t understand, catch on fire and possibly explode prior to entering the hospital,’ stated Honolulu Emergency Services Director Dr Jim Ireland.

The patient died in the fire.

Photos and videos from the scene show flames and black smoke seeping out of the back of the vehicle.

The injured paramedic has been working for EMS for eight years. He was still in critical condition as of Thursday afternoon, and was transferred to a hospital with a burn unit.

Another EMT working in the ambulance was unharmed.

‘My deepest condolences and prayers to the family and friends of the patient who lost his life in Wednesday night’s fire. Please keep our Paramedic in your thoughts. We are praying he makes a full recovery,’ Ireland stated.

‘A heartfelt mahalo to the staff at Adventist Heath Castle, our entire EMS ‘ohana, the Honolulu Fire Department for their quick response, and all the hands that responded in this tragedy.’

The Honolulu Fire Department is investigating the incident.

It is not the first ambulance accident to happen this year in the US and abroad. In April, an air ambulance crashed in upstate New York, killing two people.

In May, a man in the UK died after a Bugatti driver slammed into an ambulance at a junction on the A6 in Bedfordshire.

And earlier this month, a heart attack patient in the UK died after an ambulance transporting him to the hospital crashed into a wall. The man died due to severe chest and head injuries from the collision, not from his heart attack.

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