Three care home residents die after suspected gas leak

POLICE and accident investigators in hazmat suits were yesterday probing a suspected carbon monoxide leak which left three care home residents dead and seven more in hospital.

- Mark Reynolds

The deceased older people were found unresponsive at Gainsborough Care Home in Swanage, Dorset, at around 5.20am, before a "major incident" was declared.

More than 40 other residents, some with dementia and some in wheelchairs, were evacuated and taken to the nearby All Saints Church for shelter, alongside staff.

Constituency MP Lloyd Hatton said the deaths had hit "the whole community hard", adding that residents were "devastated" by the news.

Local councillor Gary Suttle noted the "suspicion" that carbon monoxide was the cause had not been proven.

Shocking

As many as 20 ambulances, fire engines and police vehicles rushed to the scene yesterday morning after staff raised the alarm.