6 hospitalized after exposure to hydraulic fluid at Chicago packaging facility

CHICAGO (CBS) -- An urgent care center in west suburban Berwyn was shut down Tuesday afternoon, after at least six people were taken to the hospital, following a reported explosion inside a Chicago packaging facility.

Berwyn firefighters were called to a Physicians Immediate Care facility at the intersection of Cermak Road and Oak Park Avenue.

That's where three people were taken, reportedly by their manager, after they were covered in a hydraulic fluid mixed with some kind of solvent while they were working at Mauser Packaging Solutions near 35th and Kostner in Chicago, more than 5 miles away.

Three urgent care center employees were also exposed to the substance while treating those three workers. All six were taken to area hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries.

"The only thing that occurred here is that that they were covered in this substance, and again that we were able to preliminarily identify, and that obviously caused the respiratory medical issues that everybody had to deal with; all of the workers, etc., the nurses, the health care providers," said Berwyn Fire Department Battalion Chief Jerry Marzullo.

The packaging building where the workers were exposed to the hydraulic fluid will be closed until a cleaning crew can come in.