Six casualties as Edinburgh firefighters tackle raging inferno at block of flats

Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info
Get the latest Edinburgh Live breaking news on WhatsApp
Six people were treated at the scene of a terrifying Edinburgh flat fire as the area was taped off.
Emergency services rushed to Gunnet Court at 10.50pm on Thursday night, June 19, as a blaze tore through a third floor flat.
Huge orange flames could be seen within the flat as firefighters used a height appliances to spray water into the building while residents watched on in horror.
Six casualties were given a precautionary check-up by medics at the scene but did not require hospital treatment.
Five appliances and a height vehicle were mobilised to the scene as several police cars were also pictured with officers having taped off the surrounding area.
Firefighters tackled the blaze for hours and left the scene at 2am on Friday. It is understood residents were evacuated as a group of people could be seen standing behind a cordon watching on.
A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: "We were alerted at 10.50pm on Thursday, 19 June to reports of a fire within a block of flats in Edinburgh.
"Operations Control mobilised six appliances to the city's Gunnet Court, where firefighters worked to extinguish a well-developed fire.
"Crews extinguished the fire and worked to make the area safe before leaving the scene.
"Six casualties received a precautionary check-up by Scottish Ambulance Service personnel but did not require to attend hospital."
The Scottish Ambulance Service was approached for comment.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

BBC News

24 minutes ago

• BBC News

Banana-toting robber jailed over Bradford post office heist

A masked robber who held up a post office with a banana wrapped in a plastic bag has been jailed for three years and four Asquith, 42, brandished the bendy fruit and shouted at staff to empty the till during the raid in Allerton Road, Bradford, on 6 Crown Court heard Asquith, of Chelwood Drive, Bradford, left with more than £6,000, which is yet to be sentence Judge Jonathan Gibson KC said he had concealed the banana in such a way "to make it look realistic". The court heard the member of staff on duty at the time had been left "too scared to return to the shop" after the incident. The judge said: "They at the time thought they were the victims of an armed robbery and indeed could have been shot."CCTV footage played in court showed Asquith walk into the post office before shouting at the victim "empty the till".Prosecutors had initially suggested Asquith had been carrying an imitation firearm or something designed to resemble after Asquith told the court it was a banana the prosecution said if CCTV footage of the incident did not rule out the possibility, they would accept the defendant's Arshad, mitigating, said Asquith's behaviour could be explained by his diagnosis of emphysema, a lung condition, which he said had prevented him working as a painter and added that Asquith had been abusing alcohol and Class A drugs before the robbery. Asquith pleaded guilty to robbery and possessing an imitation firearm at a previous hearing. Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.

The Independent

25 minutes ago

• The Independent

Has Iran actually tried to kill Trump? Here's what we know

Days after it was reported that Donald Trump rejected Israel's plot to assassinate Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the president publicly announced that the United States knows his location and is holding off killing him 'for now.' Israeli officials, meanwhile, have openly demanded his death. This week, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Khamenei 'can no longer be allowed to exist.' Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, turning to Fox News over the weekend to make the case for the United States to join a war with Iran, said Khamenei sees the president as 'public enemy number one.' Israel has sought to justify intervention using allegations of Trump's assassination threats as leverage, while the United States has faced years of blowback in the wake of Middle East wars and the 2020 killing of a top Iranian general. During his first administration in 2020, Trump ordered a drone strike near Baghdad International Airport that killed Qassem Soleimani, commander of the elite Quds Force with Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps, after he had survived several assassination attempts from western, Israeli and Arab states over the past two decades. The strike, which was planned over several months, ignited fierce blowback across the region, denounced by Iran's foreign minister at the time as an act of international terrorism. By 2024, U.S. intelligence officials had collected evidence they believe shows Tehran was seeking ways to kill then-candidate Trump, according to Politico. In September, Trump claimed there were 'big threats on my life by Iran.' Neither of the two assassination attempts against then-candidate Trump in the summer of 2024 have been linked to Iran. One month earlier, a Pakistani national with alleged ties to Iran was accused of seeking to carry out a murder-for-hire plot targeting U.S. government officials, according to federal prosecutors. Asif Raza Merchant was accused of joining a complex plot to carry out assassinations last year, including trying to hire hit men who were undercover officers, according to an indictment. In November, a fugitive Iranian government operative was accused of hiring a pair of New Yorkers he met in prison to carry out an assassination plot against a critic of the regime. He allegedly admitted to FBI agents that he'd also been tasked with finding a hit squad to kill then-President-elect Trump. Farhad Shakeri claimed he was asked by regime officials to 'put aside his other efforts... and focus on surveilling, and, ultimately, assassinating' Trump, according to a criminal complaint in Manhattan federal court. In February, Trump, who campaigned against U.S. involvement in foreign wars, said Iran would be 'obliterated' if he was assassinated by state actors. 'That would be a terrible thing for them to do,' he told reporters. 'Not because of me. If they did that, they would be obliterated. That would be the end. I've left instructions: if they do it, they get obliterated. There won't be anything left.' Iran has denied ever targeting the president. 'A new scenario is fabricated,' Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on X following accusations against Shakeri. 'The American people have made their decision. And Iran respects their right to elect the president of their choice. The path forward is also a choice. It begins with respect,' Araghchi wrote. Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the allegations were part of a 'repulsive' plot by Israel to 'complicate matters between America and Iran.' In January, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian stressed that Iran 'never attempted' to kill Trump, 'and we never will.' 'This is another one of those schemes that Israel and other countries are designing to promote Iranophobia,' Pezeshkian told NBC News. 'Iran has never attempted to, nor does it plan to assassinate anyone. At least as far as I know.' Asked whether there have been any plots against the president under Iran, he insisted there have been 'none whatsoever.' On June 15, Netanyahu asked Fox News host Bret Baier whether 'these people who chant 'death to America'' and 'tried to assassinate President Trump twice' should 'have nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them to your cities.' Baier then pressed Netanyahu about his claim that Iran launched two assassination attempts. 'Through proxies, yes.' he said. 'Through, through their intel, yes, they want to kill him,' he added. 'He's enemy number one.' Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who has emerged as a prominent voice across right-wing media against the United States joining Israel's war, told Texas Senator Ted Cruz that the United States would be bombing Tehran if those assassination allegations were credible. 'We should attack Iran immediately if that's true,' he said. Cruz insisted that 'nobody disputes' Iran is trying to kill the president, calling it an 'objective fact' following his interview with Carlson. On Thursday, Trump said he plans to decide on whether to order U.S. warplanes to strike Iranian nuclear facilities within the next two weeks, depending on whether Tehran engages in talks over ending their nuclear weapons program. In a statement relayed through White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, Trump said: 'Based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks.' The president's statement followed a week of escalating strikes between Israel and Iran. More than 600 Iranians and at least two dozen Iranians have been killed, according to officials.

Sky News

26 minutes ago

• Sky News

Alana Armstrong: Driver cleared of murdering woman who was knocked off electric motorbike

A driver has been acquitted of murdering a 25-year-old mother who was knocked off the back of an electric motorbike. Alana Armstrong, who had a six-year-old son, died at the scene on a country lane in Pleasley, Derbyshire. Her boyfriend Jordan Newton-Kay, who was riding the electric motorbike, had his right leg amputated 15cm above the knee after the crash. Prosecutors alleged that Keaton Muldoon had "pursued" the couple on 26 November 2024 but he was found not guilty of murder following a trial at Derby Crown Court. The 23-year-old told the jury he "did not know" he had hit anyone while driving his Land Rover Discovery and thought he had overtaken the pair. Muldoon said he feared he was going to be robbed but did not "chase" the Sur-Ron off-road bike after it had stopped by his 4x4 at a lay-by. He had pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and serious injury by dangerous driving before the trial began in May. The jury also cleared Muldoon of causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Mr Newton-Kay. Muldoon - who the court heard was a drug dealer - was the father to a newborn baby at the time of the collision. He said he lied to police that his uncle had possession of the Land Rover when the crash happened because he was "scared" about the murder investigation. Earlier this week, he told the jury: "My head was all over I didn't know what to think. "I knew I wasn't going to see my children for a bit. I just had a newborn baby. I promised I would always be there."