An elderly man died in a house fire at a terraced property in Aberdeen last night.
The alarm was raised to the house in Brighton Place just before 9pm with three fire appliances deployed to the scene.
Crews discovered the body of an elderly resident, named locally as George Wood, leading to a large police presence joining them at the scene.
Worried neighbours, who were too upset to speak about the tragedy, gathered at the edge of an extensive cordoned-off area as inquiries began.
They reported that an ambulance had attended initially, along with the fire crews, but had gone away without transporting a patient.
One woman, who asked not to be named, said that she had not seen Mr Wood for some time, and assumed he had been ill.
Forensic officers and plain-clothes investigators arrived at the narrow street, which runs between Great Western Road and Union Grove.
Firefighters continued to work inside the house, wearing breathing equipment kits and protective headwear with small searchlights attached.
Outside, a floodlight from one of the fire appliances lit up the row of houses, as the crews made sure the blaze was out.
A paramedic vehicle and ambulance emergency support unit were also in attendance. At one stage, a senior police officer and the fire and rescue incident commander spoke to groups of their crews outside the house.
A police spokesman said last night: “At 8.57pm tonight, three Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) appliances attended a report of a house fire in Brighton Place, Aberdeen.
“The body of an elderly male was discovered within. At this time there does not appear to be any suspicious circumstances.
“A joint investigation between SFRS and Police Scotland will be carried out tomorrow.”