Emergency Edinburgh incident as 45 flats evacuated following gas …
An emergency[1] incident has been ongoing for two hours as Southern Gas Networks (SGN) report that gas has been escaping onto a city centre street.
The incident is believed to have taken place at around 6pm on Saturday, September 23, on the junction of Lady Lawson Street and West Port.
Police Scotland[2] had erected a cordon on West Port to ensure the safety of residents and the SGN engineers who are on site trying to resolve the issue after "a smell of gas was reported."
SGN have confirmed that 45 flats have been evacuated in the area as their team attends to the gas leak and investigates the situation.
An SGN spokesperson said: “We have got an ongoing gas escape at West Port in Edinburgh.
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“There has been a road closure put in place to ensure safety of our engineers and the public as we carry out our investigations.
“Approximately 45 flats have been evacuated.
“We are sorry for the disruption this has caused.”
Edinburgh Live had previously reported that a shocked onlooker had managed to capture images of the incident which is still ongoing.
They said at around 7pm: "I was just walking past the area and immediately saw various police cars and a fire engine too.
Emergency services could be seen shutting off the busy city centre road.
“Other locals were watching on as well, people all seemed confused as to what was going on.
“I’m not sure what building it was they were responding to but it definitely seemed like it could be something serious.”
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service also confirmed that they were in attendance with three service vehicles on site.
Police Scotland have been approached for comment.
We'll bring you more information and updates on this breaking news story as we get it. In the meantime, follow us on Facebook[7], Instagram[8] and Twitter[9] for the latest news, what's on, trending stories and sport.
References
- ^ emergency (www.edinburghlive.co.uk)
- ^ Police Scotland (www.edinburghlive.co.uk)
- ^ Edinburgh emergency services race to city centre street as police shut off road (www.edinburghlive.co.uk)
- ^ breaking news (www.edinburghlive.co.uk)
- ^ coronavirus (www.edinburghlive.co.uk)
- ^ here (data.reachplc.com)
- ^ Facebook (www.facebook.com)
- ^ Instagram (instagram.com)
- ^ Twitter (twitter.com)