A pensioner is in a critical condition after a “brutal” fire at a block of flats in Dundee’s Hilltown early on Sunday.
Witnesses watched in horror as elderly George Gallacher was carried unconscious from his first-floor home in Kinghorne Court on Sunday “with a mouth covered in soot”.
Neighbours in the block including an infant and a child were forced to flee the blaze, escaping through windows as smoke began to fill corridors.
Neighbour Brandon Halley said: “I live two doors down and was in bed when I smelled smoke.
“At first I thought someone was burning incense. But when my dad went out to check, the whole close was full of smoke.
“I had to climb out of my bedroom window and so did a couple of otherpeople.
“I don’t know how the fire started, but I think the guy in the flat lives by himself.
“Nothing like this has happened round here before.”
A police spokesman said: “At around 8.49am this morning emergency services received a report of a fire at a block of flats on Kinghorne Road in Dundee.
“Police, fire and ambulance attended at the scene and a number of nearby roads were closed whilst the fire was brought under control.
“A number of people were treated for minor injuries at the scene and one man has been taken to Ninewells Hospital for further treatment. His condition is unknown at this time.
“The cause of the fire remains unexplained at this time and a joint police and fire investigation is to be carried out.”For more, see Monday’s Courier.