Carbon Monoxide Sickens More Than Dozens At Midtown Church
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Dozens of people were overcome by carbon monoxide at a church in midtown Manhattan on Tuesday.
They were loaded into an ambulance wearing oxygen masks, reports CBS2' Lisa Rozner.
The incident happened near 49th Street and Eighth Avenue. The FDNY says the call about elevated CO levels came in just before 10:30 a.m.
The FDNY says more than a dozen people were inside ambulances and on the street being given oxygen.
So far there are no reports of serious injuries. Three people, each in the 90s, were transported to local hospitals for treatment.
The basement of the church serves as an activity center for seniors. They were waiting to eat lunch when people started feeling sick.
Officials are blaming malfunctioning stove ventilation in the basement. It was since been repaired.
At least a dozen seniors need oxygen after carbon monoxide incident at church on 49th and 8th. They were waiting to eat lunch. The latest @CBSNewYork at noon pic.twitter.com/miBudAWE2x
— Lisa Rozner (@LisaRoznerTV) July 16, 2019
"Everybody's waiting to go up there to go eat," said Hell's Kitchen resident Chris Grosso. "All of a sudden, people started putting their heads down, one guy said he sick.
"My friend around the corner, I thought he was dead," he said. "We grabbed him right away and got him out here. Good thing the ambulances were here already. That's one good thing, they had a quick response."
"People were conscious, they weren't speaking and they weren't verbal, it was scary," said Gabby Morales, who works at the church.
Firefighters have since been able to bring the scene under control.