Woman dead and man hospitalised after gas leak

A WOMAN has died and a man thought to be her husband has been hospitalised following a suspected gas leak in Ratho.

The 61-year-old died at a house in North Street despite paramedics' attempts to save her.

The man had called 999 just before 10am telling operators the woman was having difficulty breathing and he was coughing up blood. Ambulance crews rushed to the scene but were unable to save her. They took the male patient to St John's Hospital in Livingston for treatment.

The two are thought to have been suffering carbon monoxide poisoning and the gas supply to neighbouring houses has been shut off.

An ambulance service spokeswoman said: "We got the call at 9.50am - it was the gentleman from the house that was making the call. We sent an ambulance initially, but as we've gone through and asked more questions it became apparent it was possibly a carbon monoxide poisoning case.

That's not yet confirmed but that's what we've treated it as. We sent another ambulance , a rapid response vehicle from our special operations group and two officer vehicles."

Police and the fire service are also in attendance, and Scottish Gas Network engineers are understood to be on site, along with Health and Safety Executive inspectors.