Police forensic experts have been carrying out tests on items seized from the luxury hotel room where a couple killed themselves with cyanide in a suicide pact.
Post-mortem examinations are being carried out on the bodies of a man and woman, said to be Russian, who were found in a room by staff at the five-star Scotsman Hotel in Edinburgh, alongside containers of chemicals, prompting a major emergency response.
Police said the unexplained deaths followed a "chemical incident" but have so far not named the victims
One report said the couple were from Russia and left a note saying they had taken the poison, while hotel guests noticed a strong smell "like sewage" before the bodies were found.
The discovery on the sixth floor prompted a response by the Scottish Fire and Rescue chemical incident team, with around 25 specialist firefighters sent to the scene.
The sixth floor was evacuated and a large cordon put in place outside the hotel entrance in North Bridge, yards from the historic Royal Mile and a short distance from Princes Street, the city's main shopping thoroughfare.
Police said on Friday night that they had finished their inquiries within the hotel room and a number of items have been seized by officers to go under forensic tests.
A force spokesman said the deaths are still being treated as unexplained but early indications pointed to a "chemical-related incident".
Guests staying at the hotel who were evacuated during the investigation have now been allowed to return.
Chief Inspector Murray Dykes said: "Since Police Scotland and our partners became involved in this incident, our intention was, and continues to be, keeping the public safe from harm and returning a sense of normality to the hotel and surrounding area.
"Our inquiries within the room have now concluded and all items collected from inside will undergo thorough examination to help us determine how both individuals died.
"They, their families and loved ones are very much in our thoughts as we carry out our policing duties.
"I would also like to issue my sincere thanks to all guests at the Scotsman Hotel, whose stay may have been interrupted as a result of our presence. In addition, the co-operation and assistance of all hotel staff has been excellent during an extremely difficult and sensitive time.
"While our investigation will continue, business can return to normal at the hotel and I would again stress that there is no risk to anyone who is, has or will visit the Scotsman Hotel."
The spokesman added that the names of the man and woman will not be released until their families have been informed.
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