Gong, Zhong'ao's head administrator's assistant, admitted that an ambulance with the 120 sign was in use at the hospital, but had no knowledge about how they got it or how they got 120 emergency information. "Maybe the emergency center is on good terms with us and lends us one ambulance," he said.

Local health authorities and the 120 Beijing Emergency Center have demanded a probe into the matter.

It is illegal for any person or unit other than those authorized to use the 120 emergency sign on their vehicles, said a Beijing Emergency Center public relations official.

If the Zhong'ao ambulance is found to have been lent to the hospital by a Beijing Emergency Center staff member, the staff member will face severe punishment, the official added.

The official was also puzzled as to how the hospital learned of Wang's accident in the first place. "This needs investigation," she said.