Mother's balcony plunge after three children die

• Police and firefighters outside the Edinburgh flat where the bodies of three children and a seriously injured woman were found. Picture: Toby Williams

She was found lying outside a building where the bodies of two boys and one girl, all of primary school age, were found after a gas explosion.

Neighbours said they saw a woman, thought to be the children's mother, crying on the second-floor balcony of an Edinburgh townhouse and pleaded with her not to jump.

One man said: "I heard this explosion shake the building; it was terrifying. I went out on to the balcony and I saw this woman standing there crying.

"I left the building because I thought it was unsafe and went downstairs and outside. I saw her trying to climb over the balcony. Everyone was shouting at her to stop."

The man and a maintenance worker ran back into the building, in Slateford Road, but were met by smoke billowing down the stairs.

Fire crews used a turntable ladder to reach the balcony and two firefighters went inside, where they found the children dead.

A police spokesman said: "A criminal investigation is currently under way, and nothing more can be said at this time about the circumstances which led to their deaths."

He confirmed officers planned to talk to the woman found lying outside the building when she is well enough.

She was taken to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary by ambulance, where her condition was described as "serious".

Last night, police confirmed that they had made contact with the children's father, who was in Aberdeen. They said the man was not being interviewed as a suspect.

Neighbour Omar Barifah, 20, a student chemical engineer from Saudi Arabia, said that when he fled the building he saw the woman lying outside, covered in a blanket.

He said: "I had just got home from university. I heard this big bang; it was very frightening.

"I got my little brother and friends out of the building. There was this woman lying on the ground. She was covered. I saw her taken on to an ambulance and driven away.

"She was not moving. She didn't move once when I was there."

Scotland Gas Networks engineers were called to the block of flats and townhouses after the explosion at 3pm. They turned the gas off as a precaution, but said any leak did not come from their network. A Scottish Gas spokesman said: "Our engineers will remain in the area to provide expert advice to the emergency services if required."

A police source said: "The assumption was that the children died in a gas explosion at the flat, but this does not seem to be entirely the case.

"It would appear that the children did not die in a blast.

"The fire brigade was called out after reports about a gas leak and they put out a small fire, but the children's deaths appear to have some other cause."

Police cordoned off the road outside and stopped people returning to their homes, but did not evacuate those still inside the building.

Forensics officers were seen entering the building last night as the police investigation continued.

Neighbours huddled outside the cordon said they did not know the victims and believed that they must have moved in recently.

The townhouse is part of a large modern block with flats on one side and townhouses on the other. The majority of properties inside are rented.

The back of the building, where the family lived, faces the railway line.

An ambulance spokeswoman said: "We received a 999 call at 2:56pm from a member of the public, saying that a female had fallen two storeys from the window of a flat. An ambulance arrived within four minutes and found a seriously injured woman, who was taken to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

"There were also three fatalities at the scene."

Police said it was too soon to say what caused the explosion.

Chief inspector Kevin Greig, of Lothian and Borders, said "Police were called at 3pm to an incident at Slateford Road.

"I can confirm that, as a result of an explosion, there were three fatalities, two boys and a girl of primary school age.

"A woman was also taken by ambulance for treatment."

Councillor Gordon Buchan, who represents the Fountainbridge and Craiglockhart ward, said Edinburgh City Council would visit the building when it had been made safe and provide assistance to anyone affected by the blast. Jim Lowrie, Liberal Democrat councillor for Fountainbridge and Craig lockhart, said: "This is a very caring community and people will be really upset about this terrible tragedy.

I would like to express my greatest sympathy to relatives and neighbours who knew the family.

"This is a highly unusual occurrence, and we do not yet know the full circumstances. However, I hope we manage to get to the bottom of it quickly. "

One local businessman said: "The first we knew was when we noticed the police at around 3:15pm.

"There were ambulances, the fire brigade, lots of people rushing about.

"It's in the new flats, where the old Marco's snooker and squash club used to be. They are relatively new houses up the back there.

"The police came round to ask if any of us saw anything, but we didn't. All we know is that there was an explosion.

"We're quite close by, but we didn't hear anything at all. We were quite surprised.

"The road has been sealed off at both ends under the viaduct and at the rail bridge. There's nothing being allowed in at all."

Council leader Jenny Dawe said: "Although there is little information at the moment, this is obviously a terrible incident and our thoughts go to those who are affected.

"The council will provide whatever support the emergency services require as they deal with the incident and its aftermath."

Police said westbound traffic was being diverted at Longstone Garage and eastbound drivers were being diverted at Chesser Avenue.

A spokesperson for the neighbouring Asda store said they were trading as normal, despite the chaos, while a ScotRail spokesperson confirmed that the blast has not affected train services.

A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesman said: "We got a 999 call from a member of the public on a mobile phone at 2:56pm.They reported that a female had fallen two storeys from a flat in Slateford Road.

"They then reported a gas explosion, during the same call.

"We sent a rapid-response unit and two ambulances, one of which was diverted from another 999 call nearby, and arrived at the scene at 3pm.

"One female was taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, and I can confirm there are three fatalities.

"We also sent our Special Operations Response Team, who are specially trained and deployed to major incidents, to use their extended skills."

A Lothian and Borders Fire Service spokesman said: "We were called to a report of a possible gas explosion in Slateford Road, Edinburgh, shortly before 3pm.

"Two fire appliances and a turntable ladder attended at the address, a three-storey modern townhouse. Two firefighters wearing breathing apparatus extinguished a small fire on the first floor of the building.

"There were reported casualties at the address, but further details have yet to be confirmed by police.

"Gas at the property was isolated as a precaution, and fire crews remain at the scene with the Fire Investigation Unit."..