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A five-year-old boy died Friday morning in Michigan in an explosion inside a hyperbaric chamber where he was receiving medical treatment, according to officials.
Police and fire officials were called to the Oxford Medical Center in Troy around 8 a.m.
“It’s a horrible, tragic incident,” Troy Police Lieutenant Ben Hancock said in a news conference Friday. “It’s not something that we ever want to have to respond to.”
First responders arrived to find the chamber on fire and extracted the boy, who was later pronounced dead. Officials contained the blaze to the room where the explosion took place.
Troy officials are not naming the deceased child.
His mother, who was in the room when the explosion occurred, received injuries to her arm.
“This is an exceptionally difficult day for all of us,” the Oxford Center said in a statement to CBS News.
“The safety and wellbeing of the children we serve is our highest priority,” the facility added. “Nothing like this has happened in our more than 15 years of providing this type of therapy.”
Fire officials said they were unaware of any previous incidents at the center, which was founded in 2008, according to The Detroit News.
City officials inspect and license such devices, according to police.
State officials are expected to probe the cause of the explosion.
“The mother of the child suffered some injuries to her arms as she was standing right next to the chamber as the explosion occurred,” Hancock added during the news conference. “We don’t know exactly what the child was being treated for at the center today.”
Hyperbaric chambers are enclosed, highly pressurized spaces that deliver patients pure oxygen, and are used to treat decompression sickness, tissue injuries, and carbon monoxide, among other conditions, according to the Mayo Clinic.
“The presence of such a high amount of oxygen in a pressurized environment can make it extremely combustible,” Troy Fire Lieutenant Keith Young said on Friday. “We did some initial investigation. This is very uncommon, so we’re not sure what led up to it.”
