Three dead in incident at care home

Three people have died and two people have been taken to hospital after an incident at a Dorset care home. Emergency services are at the scene at a care home in Ulwell Road, in Swanage, where South Western Ambulance Service confirmed two people were taken to hospital and a hazard response team was deployed on Wednesday.

A Dorset Police spokesman has confirmed three people were found dead at a care home in Ulwell Road, Swanage, with an investigation launched because their deaths are being treated as “unexplained”.

“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.”

He added: “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.”

Dorset Council councillor Gary Suttle told the PA news agency: “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 spokesperson for SGN, a gas distribution company, said they were called to Gainsborough Care Home in Swanage earlier on Wednesday as the national gas emergency service for the south of England. “Our engineers are waiting for access to the building to complete safety checks,” she said.

“Our thoughts are with everyone who has been affected by this tragic incident.”

Councillor Suttle called the Gainsborough Care Home incident a “tragic event”. The Dorset councillor claimed social services had told him three people had died and two people had been taken to hospital.

He told the PA news agency: “Our condolences and sympathy are with those who have lost their lives in this tragic event.”

He added that all other residents are “safe and going to be relocated”. Mr 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”. “We hope that the fire brigade will be able to confirm the building will be safe to enter in about 30 minutes,” Mr Suttle said.

The police will then take over the scene and begin their investigation, he added. 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 the PA news agency: “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.