Three people have been found dead at a care home in Dorset, police have said – with emergency services at the scene.
Dorset Police said it was called to the home in Swanage shortly after 7.15am and an investigation is being carried out “to establish the full circumstances” of what happened.
Four people have been taken to hospital “as a precaution” and the property has been evacuated.
A local councillor described the incident as a “tragic event” and said there was a “suspicion” that “this could be attributable to carbon monoxide but it has not been proven”.
A spokesperson for Southern Gas Network confirmed it had been called to Gainsborough Care Home.
“The deaths are currently being treated as unexplained and an investigation has been launched,” the police force said.
It continued: “There remains a significant multi-agency presence in place at the address and a cordon remains in place as we work with partners to carry out further enquiries.
“At this time there is nothing to indicate any risk to the wider public.
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“We understand this incident will have a significant impact on the Swanage community and our thoughts are very much with the families of those who have sadly died at this extremely difficult time.”
The Gainsborough Care Home, run by Agincare, has 48 residents, all elderly and some with dementia.
All the residents were evacuated to a nearby church hall, with some in wheelchairs.
A spokesperson for the care home said it had sent “extra staffing resources” amid the incident and said the wellbeing of residents was its “over-riding priority”.
Cllr Gary Suttle said: “Our condolences and sympathy are with those who have lost their lives in this tragic event.”
He thanked locals for coming into the church where people had been evacuated to, bringing blankets in acts of “great community support”.
South Western Ambulance Service said it was called to the home in Swanage at 5.20am and sent a hazard response team, ten ambulances, and “a significant number of additional resources”.
A spokeswoman for Southern Gas Network said: “We were called to Gainsborough Care Home in Swanage earlier today in our capacity as the national gas emergency service for the south of England.
“Our engineers are waiting for access to the building to complete safety checks.
“Our thoughts are with everyone who has been affected by this tragic incident.”
Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service said it had sent four crews to the scene in Ulwell Road after it was called at 7.47am, with another two crews from the Hampshire and the Isle of Wight services also there.
Group manager Neil Tidball said: “Firefighters are working with Dorset Police, South West Ambulance Service and other partners to resolve this incident.”
Specialist search teams, police dogs and divers have been dispatched to find two sisters who vanished in Aberdeen three days ago.
Eliza and Henrietta Huszti, both 32, were last seen on CCTV in the city’s Market Street at Victoria Bridge at about 2.12am on Tuesday.
The siblings were captured crossing the bridge and turning right onto a footpath next to the River Dee in the direction of Aberdeen Boat Club.
Police Scotland has launched a major search and said it is carrying out “extensive inquires” in an effort to find the women.
Chief Inspector Darren Bruce said: “Local officers, led by specialist search advisors, are being assisted by resources including police dogs and our marine unit.”
Aberdeenshire Drone Services told Sky News it has offered to help in the search and is waiting to hear back from Police Scotland.
The sisters, from Aberdeen city centre, are described as slim with long brown hair.
Police said the Torry side of Victoria Bridge where the sisters were last seen contains many commercial and industrial units, with searches taking place in the vicinity.
The force urged businesses in and around the South Esplanade and Menzies Road area to review CCTV footage recorded in the early hours of Tuesday in case it captured anything of significance.
Drivers with relevant dashcam footage are also urged to come forward.
CI Bruce added: “We are continuing to speak to people who know Eliza and Henrietta and we urge anyone who has seen them or who has any information regarding their whereabouts to please contact 101.”
Britain’s gas storage levels are “concerningly low” with less than a week of demand in store, the operator of the country’s largest gas storage site said on Friday.
Plunging temperatures and high demand for gas-fired power stations are the main factors behind the low levels, Centrica said.
The UK is heavily reliant on gas for its home heating and also uses a significant amount for electricity generation.
As of the 9th of January 2025, UK storage sites are 26% lower than last year’s inventory at the same time, leaving them around half full,” Centrica said.
“This means the UK has less than a week of gas demand in store.”
The firm’s Rough gas storage site, a depleted field off England’s east coast, makes up around half of the country’s gas storage capacity.
Glasgow has been a city crying out for solutions to a devastating drugs epidemic that is ravaging people hooked on deadly narcotics.
We have spent time with vulnerable addicts in recent months and witnessed first-hand the dirty, dangerous street corners and back alleys where they would inject their £10 heroin hit, not knowing – or, in many cases, not caring – whether that would be the moment they die.
“Dying would be better than this life,” one man told me.
It was a grim insight into the daily reality of life in the capital of Europe’s drug death crisis.
Scotland has a stubborn addiction to substances spanning generations. Politicians of all persuasions have failed to properly get a grip of the emergency.
But there is a new concept in town.
From Monday, a taxpayer-funded unit is allowing addicts to bring their own heroin and cocaine and inject it while NHS medical teams supervise.
It may be a UK-first but it is a regular feature in some other major European cities that have claimed high success rates in saving lives.
Glasgow has looked on with envy at these other models.
One supermarket car park less than a hundred metres from this new facility is a perfect illustration of the problem. An area littered with dirty needles and paraphernalia. A minefield where one wrong step risks contracting a nasty disease.
It is estimated hundreds of users inject heroin in public places in Glasgow every week. HIV has been rife.
The new building, which will be open from 9am until 9pm 365 days a year, includes bays where clean needles are provided as part of a persuasive tactic to lure addicts indoors in a controlled environment.
There is a welcome area where people will check in before being invited into one of eight bays. The room is clinical, covered in mirrors, with a row of small medical bins.
We were shown the aftercare area where users will relax after their hit in the company of housing and social workers.
The idea is controversial and not cheap – £2.3m has been ring-fenced every year.
Authorities in the city first floated a ‘safer drug consumption room’ in 2016. It failed to get off the ground as the UK Home Office under the Conservatives said they would not allow people to break the law to feed habits.
The usual wrangle between Edinburgh and London continued for years with Downing Street suggesting Scotland could, if it wanted, use its discretion to allow these injecting rooms to go ahead.
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The stalemate ended when Scotland’s most senior prosecutor issued a landmark decision that it would not be in the public interest to arrest those using such a facility.
One expert has told me this new concept is unlikely to lead to an overall reduction in deaths across Scotland. Another described it as an expensive vanity project. Supporters clearly disagree.
The question is what does success look like?
The big test will be if there is a spike in crime around the building and how it will work alongside law enforcement given drug dealers know exactly where to find their clients now.
It is not disputed this is a radical approach – and other cities across Britain will be watching closely.