Four people were taken to hospital after a carbon monoxide leak led to a packed Highland hotel being evacuated.
The guests – two men and two women believed to be in their 50s and 60 – were among 90 who had to flee their rooms at the Carrbridge Hotel.
They were taken by ambulance to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness and treated for suspected carbon monoxide poisoning.
Their condition was not considered life threatening. No one else required medical assistance.
It is thought the problem was caused by a fault in a biomass heating system.
Ambulance crews and police were called to the scene, as well as fire brigade units from Aviemore, Grantown and Inverness.
Firefighters wore breathing apparatus as they worked with gas engineers to establish the source of the leak.
Aviemore station manager Gordon McQuade said: “Our crews arrived quickly at the scene and assisted two casualties to safety before evacuating the premises.
“We thereafter worked closely with partner agencies to bring the incident to a safe and swift conclusion.”
One guest said: “The fire alarm woke us up. Everything was all under control and the hotel people have been wonderful.”
A spokeswoman for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said: “It was a carbon monoxide leak.
“Crews rescued two people from one of the rooms and two further people were rescued prior to arrival.”
Katie Lobban of the gas distribution company SGN said: “Our engineers were called following reports of suspected carbon monoxide poisoning.
“We attended quickly and established the issue wasn’t mains gas-related as we don’t operate a gas network in the area.
“However, we made the situation safe by turning off a wood pellet burner which fed the boiler. Our engineers left the hotel soon after.”
New arrivals were checking into the hotel, which is popular with coach tours, before midday.
In a statement, the hotel’s managing director, Colin Watt, said: “There was an incident this morning, which resulted in a full hotel evacuation.
“It is currently under investigation. The Health and Safety Executive have been informed.
“We would like to thank the emergency services for their prompt response early this morning and we will release further detail if and as it becomes available.”
The alarm was raised around 5am yesterday.
