A MAN remains unaccounted for today following a fire which ripped through an Aberystwyth hotel early on Wednesday morning.

Dyfed-Powys Police confirmed that one man remains unaccounted for following the fire at Ty Belgrave House on Marine Terrace and officers are trying to trace his next of kin.

Fire crews left the scene of the fire this afternoon, from where nine adults and three children were rescued.

Marine Terrace remains closed off and the fire service said this afternoon that the fire, which gutted the hotel and damaged parts of neighbouring properties, has now been fully extinguished.

Five people were taken to hospital following the incident as a precaution, the fire service said, and one person remains missing.

A Mid and West Wales Fire Service spokesperson said: “The fire at Ty Belgrave House has been extinguished and all Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service resources have now left the scene with primacy of the incident now handed over to Dyfed-Powys Police.

“One person remains unaccounted for.”

A joint fire investigation by the fire service and Dyfed-Powys Police has been launched.