City mortuary closed as emergency services deal with 'chemical odour' incident on the Cowgate

Emergency services are in attendance at the mortuary in Edinburgh's Old Town, after they were alerted to a 'chemical odour'.

The worrying smell, which was noticed around the Cowgate area, was reported to officers shortly before 11am this morning (October 18). Police, firefighters and ambulances all

rushed to the scene to investigate the odour.

Part of the building at 297 Cowgate has been closed off, however, police have confirmed there is no wider threat to the public.

Emergency services remain on the scene.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "Around 10.50am on Tuesday, 18 October, 2022, police received a report of a chemical odour within an area of a building in Cowgate, Edinburgh. Emergency services are in attendance dealing with the matter and enquiries are ongoing.

"The area of the building has been closed off and there are no reports of anyone being affected. There is no threat to the wider public."

Emergency services were called to an incident at Cowgate, Edinburgh, on Tuesday morning.

A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: “We were alerted at 10.13am on Tuesday, October 18 to an incident at Cowgate, Edinburgh.

“Operations Control mobilised two fire appliances and specialist resources to the area and firefighters assisted emergency service partners. Crews are currently still in attendance.”

A spokesperson for the Scottish Ambulance Service said: “We received a call today from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to attend an incident in Cowgate in Edinburgh. We dispatched our special operations team to the scene.”

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