Man critical after collapsing at city centre gay sauna
A 54 year old man is in a critical condition after collapsing in a city centre sauna.
Police were called to the Splash sauna in Liverpool after a man was taken ill and rushed to hospital.
Officers taped off the sauna following the incident, with forensics experts also called to scene on Fazakerley Street, according to the Liverpool Echo.
A spokeswoman for Merseyside Police said the force could “confirm that an investigation is underway after a man collapsed in a Liverpool city centre sauna.”
The Splash sauna and spa is described as “Liverpool’s premier gay sauna”.
A statement from the police said: “The 54-year-old man, from Blackpool, was taken to the Royal Liverpool University Hospital shortly after 6pm after collapsing in the sauna.
“His condition is described as critical,” it added.
“At this stage the cause of the man’s condition is unknown and officers, along with medics, are working to establish the reasons behind his collapse.”
Last week, it was announced that another of London’s gay bathhouses has shut its doors for good.
Chariots in Streatham has announced it had closed for business – weeks after it was revealed that the current site of Chariots in Shoreditch is set to be demolished to make way for a new luxury hotel.
The site will be flattened, in order to build the 200-bedroom building, which will also include offices and retail space.
The brand has come under increased criticism in the past few years, after a string of controversies led to questions regarding the safety and security of the saunas – especially the soon to be destroyed Shoreditch branch.
The site was severely damaged in a fire in 2011, with around 150 men evacuated from the club during the incident – many of them barefoot and wearing towels.
In 2012, a 46-year-old man was discovered dead in the sauna.
Last year, another man was found dead in the Waterloo branch of Chariots.
Neither death was treated as suspicious by police.
