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| Fears blast hotel could collapse | |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| Firefighters searching the debris of an Aberdeenshire hotel devastated by an explosion have been forced to pull out amid fears the building could collapse. | |
| Three people injured in the blast at the Drumtochty Arms in Auchenblae are said to be "stable" in hospital. | |
| It is not thought there is anyone else buried in the rubble, but a search and rescue operation has been taking place to make sure. | |
| That has now had to be put on hold for a structural examination. | |
| Firefighters spent the night searching through rubble as part of the investigation into what happened. | |
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| Explosion at Aberdeenshire hotel | Explosion at Aberdeenshire hotel |
| A woman and two men - one in his 20s and the other in his 50s - were injured and are being treated in Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. | |
| It is thought that two of the injured were members of staff and the other was a customer. | |
| People living nearby talked about hearing a "great big boom" on Wednesday night, and most of the village's main street had to be cordoned off. | |
| The pub had recently been refurbished into a hotel. | The pub had recently been refurbished into a hotel. |
| Hugely relieved | |
| It is thought the explosion could have been related to a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinder. | It is thought the explosion could have been related to a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinder. |
| There did not appear to be any suspicious circumstances. | There did not appear to be any suspicious circumstances. |
| A local resident said: "I was sitting in my house, and I heard a massive bang and the whole house shook." | A local resident said: "I was sitting in my house, and I heard a massive bang and the whole house shook." |
| Andy Coueslant, of Grampian Fire and Rescue Service, said there had been a "significant explosion" at the rear of the property. | Andy Coueslant, of Grampian Fire and Rescue Service, said there had been a "significant explosion" at the rear of the property. |
| He said: "We believe that everyone has been accounted for, but until we are quite sure about that we will treat it as a search and rescue operation." | He said: "We believe that everyone has been accounted for, but until we are quite sure about that we will treat it as a search and rescue operation." |
| A director of the company which owns the hotel told BBC Scotland he was hugely relieved there had been no loss of life. | A director of the company which owns the hotel told BBC Scotland he was hugely relieved there had been no loss of life. |
| He said renovation work had been under way for more than a year, and that work had been continuing on Wednesday. | He said renovation work had been under way for more than a year, and that work had been continuing on Wednesday. |
| However, he declined to speculate on the cause of the explosion. He said he was co-operating with the emergency services and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). | However, he declined to speculate on the cause of the explosion. He said he was co-operating with the emergency services and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). |