Three people dead and four in hospital after 'incident' at care home - Hazard team sent in

Dorset Council councillor Gary Suttle told reporters: "I have been told by (Dorchester) social services there was a critical incident at the home. Three people are confirmed as dead and two people have been taken to hospital."

He added that there is a "suspicion" that "this could be attributable to carbon monoxide but it has not been proven."

Katie Lobban, a spokesman for the gas distribution company SGN, said they were called to Gainsborough Care Home in Swanage earlier on Wednesday as the national gas emergency service for the south of England.

She said: "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."

A spokesperson from Dorset Police said: "Four other people have been taken to hospital as a precaution and other residents of the address have been evacuated to a safe location as emergency services respond to the incident,” the spokesman said.

“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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Suttle said residents of the care home were initially taken to All Saint’s Church, near the scene, and will be moved to other placements.

He told of local residents “kindly” coming into the church bringing blankets in acts of “great community support”.

People living on Ulwell Road in Swanage, Dorset, saw Gainsborough Care Home residents being evacuated amid a heavy emergency services presence outside the home.

One man, who did not want to give his name, told reporters: "They evacuated the care home, Gainsborough Care Home. They have taken all the patients out but the emergency services are still on the scene."

He said he saw some residents being evacuated in wheelchairs. He believed emergency services arrived around 7am on Wednesday and he started to see people being moved out at around 8.30am.

He estimated there were two fire engines, three to four police cars and around eight or nine ambulances at the scene, where the road remains closed. The home, run by Agincare, has 48 residents, all elderly and some with dementia.

A spokesperson for Gainsborough Care Home said: "An incident involving the care home took place this morning, and we have been closely working with the lead agencies to manage the welfare of all concerned.

"The wellbeing of residents is always our overriding priority, and part of the local business continuity plan was to transfer residents in a managed way to a local village hall and church, where they remain safe and well.

"We appreciate that this is a stressful and worrying time for those involved, and have allocated extra staffing resources to provide support locally. We are contacting and updating residents’ families.

"We will continue to work with the lead local authority services to return residents into their home at the earliest opportunity, and will provide further updates in due course."