Two people are fighting for their lives following a 'gas explosion' in North Lanarkshire.
Homes were evacuated in the wake of the incident at the building which is under demolition in Newmains.
Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said there was a "small explosion" which resulted in a "small fire" in the building in Bonkle Road. The alarm was raised at 1.29pm.
Two people received urgent medical treatment by trauma accident and emergency specialists with life-threatening injuries and were rushed to Glasgow Royal Infirmary.
It is understood they received urgent medical attention while travelling to hospital.
SGN, formerly Scotland Gas Networks have said their engineers "made the situation safe "by turning off the gas supply to the building.
The Health and Safety Executive have carried out initial investigations.
It is understood the premises may have been near, or part of, Newmains Pastoral Centre. The disused building was formerly used as a retreat centre for the Diocese of Motherwell.
Police evacuated nearby properties following reports of a "strong smell of gas" in the area as a precautionary measure.
Locals talked of their houses shaking from the force of the blast at the former convent building where workers were removing asbestos.
It is understood workers moved in on Wednesday to remove asbestos in preparation for the demolition of the building.
The air ambulance comes to the rescue.
"We understand several people are injured and are being treated in hospital. Our thoughts are with them and their family," said an SGN spokesman. "The cause of the explosion is under investigation."
One local said: "Heard a massive bang a while ago & now hearing reports of a gas explosion in Newmains."
Another said: "What is happening in Newmains???? There was a loud bang that shook my windows and then all I've heard for the last half hour is sirens."
Neil Gray the SNP MP for Airdrie & Shotts said he was "shocked" to hear about the explosion.
"I have contacted Police Scotland and will keep in touch with them for updates as things develop.
"I am available should anyone need my help and my thoughts and best wishes for a speedy recovery go to those who have been injured in the blast."
Clare Adamson, MSP for Motherwell & Wishaw, was also shocked adding: "The area has been cordoned off and the incident has been reported to the Health & Safety Executive by Police Scotland. I understand that there are no outstanding safety concerns at this time.
"My thoughts are with the two individuals injured to whom I wish a speedy recovery."
A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said: "We are currently attending an incident in Bonkle Roard, Newmains involving a small explosion in a commercial building.
"Operations control immediately mobilised two fire applicances to the scene, after the alarm was raised.
"Firefighters are currently tackling a small fire with powerful water jets. Two casualties are being treated by the Scottish Ambulance Service."
We are in attendance at Bonkle Road #Wishaw tackling small fire following small explosion in commercial building pic.twitter.com/t4TN0jvR0T
— Scot Fire and Rescue (@fire_scot) October 5, 2017
A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We received a call at 1333 hours today to attend an address on Bonkle Road in Wishaw.
“We dispatched two ambulances, our special operations response team, the trauma team, an officer and our Helimed air ambulance.
“The first unit arrived on scene within three minutes.”
Residents were later allowed back into their homes.
A small emergency presence remained at the scene on Thursday evening after the blast.
One eyewitness, who asked not to be named, said: "I was walking past and there was a huge bang just as I was heading home.
"I wondered what it was, then about 10 minutes later the police and emergency services arrived.
"I still don't know what caused it."
The explosion led to cordons being erected around the blast area where shards of glass could be seen on the road.
It was closed to traffic while gas investigators probe the cause of the explosion.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article