Three people have been found dead and four people have been taken to hospital after an incident at a Dorset care home, police have said.
Emergency services are at the scene at Gainsborough Care Home in Ulwell Road in Swanage, with remaining residents having been evacuated to a safe location.
Several emergency vehicles arrived on the scene of the incident within minutes of it being reported, with a local councillor since confirming that three people have lost their lives.
Here’s what we know – and what we don’t know – about the incident so far
What we know
We know that there have been three deaths, while four people have been taken to hospital “as a precaution“, Dorset Police said. The force described the incident as ”unexplained”.
The incident took place in the early hours of Wednesday morning, with South Western Ambulance Service saying in a statement that they were called at 5.20am.
Gainsborough Care Home said they have allocated “extra staffing resources” to provide support following the incident.
A spokesman said: “The wellbeing of residents is always our over-riding 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.”
The care home, run by Agincare, has 48 residents, all elderly and some with dementia.
A local councillor told the PA news agency that there is a “suspicion” that the incident “could be attributable to carbon monoxide but it has not been proven”.
Katie Lobban, a spokesperson for Southern Gas Network, confirmed they were called to the scene and engineers “are waiting for access to the building to complete safety checks”.
Councillor Gary Suttle called the incident a “tragic event”.
Police have said there is no risk to the wider public following the incident.
What we don’t know
No confirmed information has been given as to the nature of the incident or what may have caused it.
The identities of the three people confirmed to have died have not been given. It is also not know if they were staff, residents, visitors, or in the building for another reason.
The current condition of the four people in hospital is not known, or the reason why they were hospitalised.
Councillor Suttle said evacuated care home residents were initially taken to All Saint’s Church, near the scene, and will be moved to other placements. We do not know the condition of these residents or where they will be moved to.
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