A woman has died in Newry while waiting for an ambulance to arrive from Belfast after she took ill.
The young woman, who was aged in her 30s, is believed to have been out with her friends at the weekend when she collapsed.
BBC News NI reports that her friends then dialled 999 and were advised there would be a wait before crews could arrive as the "only crew available was in Belfast".
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It is also reported that it took 45 minutes for the ambulance to reach the woman - she died at the scene in the early hours of Sunday morning.
A spokesperson for the NIAS told the BBC that the "planned level of resource in the Southern division on Saturday night was 10 crews".
But only three crews were available for that specific shift.
"As NIAS manages the service on a regional basis with the closest available ambulance responding to the next most clinically urgent call, crews from other divisions will have responded to calls in the southern division," their statement continued.
"NIAS also had three A&E support crews and one independent ambulance crew available to complement the emergency crews.
"NIAS would like to apologise to patients and their careers for any delays experienced as a result of reduced cover on Saturday night."
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