2 days ago
Man rushed to hospital after campervan EXPLODES in ‘gas blast' at Scots beach
A MAN has been rushed to hospital after a campervan exploded in a "gas blast" at a Scots beach.
Emergency crews raced to East Beach Car Park in Lossiemouth, Moray, after the alarm was raised around 7.30am today.
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Dramatic images from the scene show the door of the vehicle blown off by the explosion.
A yellow canister is situated beside the campervan.
Cops confirmed a 59-year-old was rushed to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
Gerry Cross and wife Sylvia were in the motorhome next to the one that exploded.
At first they thought someone had rammed right into their vehicle.
But when they went out to investigate they discovered their neighbour's camper had blown up.
They found him wandering about the car park in only his shorts, and he told them: 'My van is f***ed'.
Gerry, 64, said: 'There was a horrendous bang.
'I thought another car had driven into the side of the motorhome because it was such a noise.
'I threw my clothes on and went out for a look but there wasn't a mark on our motorhome.
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'That's when I found the guy from the other van. He was really shaken up and looking a bit dazed.'
Gerry and Sylvia, from Baildon, Bradford, are driving across Scotland to mark her birthday.
But the big day didn't go as planned when the explosion happened right next to them in the car parking spot in picturesque Lossiemouth at about 7.15am.
A passerby called the emergency services and Gerry tried to help the 59-year-old owner of the other mobile home.
He told them he'd been lying in his bed when his gas canister exploded and blasted the door off.
It's thought it had been leaking and slowly filled the vehicle with gas until it reached some kind of flame.
Gerry said: 'At first I thought he had really bad sunburn. But I think that was burns from the explosion right across his back.
'His eyebrows were burned off and all the stubble on his face had been singed off.
'But he was incredibly lucky to walk away from it. I wonder if it was just because he was in the eye of the storm that he wasn't more seriously hurt.'
Sylvia, 56, was playing Worldle on her phone when the blast happened.
She said: 'This is a birthday I'll probably never, ever forget.
'It's fortunate no one was walking across the car park at the time. The door came off like a missile.'
Chris Cowe, 37, and partner Nicole Alzate, 35, live next to the car park and came running when they heard the blast.
Nicole said: 'The whole house shook. I thought a bomb had gone off.'
The couple wrapped the injured tourist, thought to be from England, in clingfilm to help his burns.
The emergency services got to the scene within ten minutes and the injured campervan driver was taken to nearby Dr Gray's Hospital in Elgin. He was later transferred to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
Cops cordoned off the camper van and two officers stood guard before fire investigation crews arrived to launch their probe into the incident.
After all the drama, Sylvia and Gerry planned to stay another night in Lossiemouth, with dogs Ghost and Etta. They stayed next to the blast site.
Gerry said: 'We've been driving across the UK in the van for six years and nothing like this has ever happened before. It's the last thing you expect.'We were called to a report of a possible gas explosion within a motorhome in a car park in the Church Street area of Lossiemouth.
'A 59-year-old man was taken to Dr Gray's Hospital in Elgin and later transferred by road to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary for treatment.'
A Scottish Fire and Rescue spokeswoman added: 'We were alerted to reports of an explosion within a campervan in a car park.
'Operations Control mobilised two fire appliances and firefighters assisted emergency service partners.
'One casualty was handed into the care of the Scottish Ambulance Service. Crews left the scene after ensuring the area was made safe.'
