Explosion at hotel injures three

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Three people have been injured in an explosion at a hotel in Aberdeenshire, police said.

Part of the rear of the Drumtochty Arms hotel in Auchenblae collapsed after the blast at about 1730 GMT.

A woman and two men, one in his 50s and one in his 20s, were taken to hospital with burns, chest and facial injuries. One is said to be seriously injured.

A police spokesman said the explosion was believed to be related to a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinder.

There do not appear to be any suspicious circumstances.

Main ambulance services have now been stood down but a specialist team remains at the scene while firefighters search through debris from a collapsed wall at the back of the building.

Everyone who was in the hotel has now been accounted for.

Installation work had been carried out in the kitchen earlier in the day.

Partial collapse

Most of the village's main street has been cordoned off.

Inspector Gordon Nicoll, of Grampian Police, said: "There has been an explosion. It appears to be linked to the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinder at the rear of the premises.

"There has been a partial collapse at the rear of the building."

A local resident, who did not want to be named, said: "I was sitting in my house, and I heard a massive bang and the whole house shook.

"I thought something had happened upstairs.

"I went outside later and it was like a circus, with an ambulance, police and fire engines.

"The main road is taped off and my road, just down from the hotel, is closed."