Three dead and four hospitalized following major incident at care home

Three people were found dead at a Dorset care home that was evacuated this morning.

Staff were seen crying outside the building on Ulwell Road, in Swanage, after four other people were taken to hospital this morning.

Residents have been evacuated to a nearby church while emergency services, including a hazardous response team, attend the scene.

Emergency services are refusing to comment on the nature of the incident but they have now confirmed there is no risk to the wider public.

A Dorset Police spokesperson said: ‘Enquiries are being carried out to establish the full circumstances and we are continuing to liaise with our partner agencies.

‘The families of those who have died have been informed and the coroner has been notified.

‘The deaths are currently being treated as unexplained and an investigation has been launched.

‘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.

More than 40 residents were evacuated, some of them in wheelchairs (Picture: BNPS)

The 48-bedroom Gainsborough care home is at the centre of the emergency response (Picture: BNPS)

All Saints Church, around the corner from the care home, has taken in the residents (Picture: BNPS)

‘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.

‘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.’

Local councillor Gary Suttle had earlier revealed the deaths of three people, before it was confirmed by police this afternoon.

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

Police are so far treating the three deaths as unexplained while they investigate what happened (Picture: Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images)

Emergency vehicles have been parked along Ulwell Road since this morning, with more boarding a ferry to join them (Picture: Google/X/@PatriciaGarnel)

Local residents have been delivering blankets to the evacuees, some of whom had to be moved by wheelchair to the nearby church, Mr Suttle claimed.

He said: ‘Our condolences and sympathy are with those who have lost their lives in this tragic event.’

A spokesperson for Gainsborough Care Home said: ‘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.’

The streets were lined with ambulances, fire engines and police cars (Picture: BNPS)

At least a dozen emergency vehicles have been pictured along Ulwell Road all the way to All Saints Church.

‘They keep coming’, according to resident Patricia Garnel, who shared images of more emergency vehicles at the Sandbanks Ferry, often the quickest way to reach Swanage from Poole and Bournemouth.

She said: ‘There’s more ambulances waiting to get in the ferry.’

They have been joined on the scene by Southern Gas Network.

A spokesperson for the gas company 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.’

A spokesperson for the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) said: ‘We were called at 05:20hrs on Wednesday 23 October to an incident at a care home in Swanage.

‘We sent a Hazardous Area Response Team, ten double-crewed land ambulances, as well as a significant number of additional resources.

‘Two patients were conveyed by land ambulance to Poole Hospital.’

Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Service said: ‘We were called at 7.47am this morning (23 October) to assist the ambulance service in Ulwell Road, Swanage.

‘We currently have four fire crews on scene from Swanage, Wareham, Westbourne, Poole, a support vehicle from Dorchester along with two crews from Winchester (Hampshire and IOW FRS).

‘Firefighters are working with Dorset Police, South West Ambulance Service and other partners to resolve this incident.’

Emma Davis