4 College Workers Suffer From CO Poisoning

Four Hampshire College employees had to be taken to the hospital with carbon monoxide poisoning after a boiler malfunctioned in the cafeteria

Four Hampshire College employees had to be taken to the hospital with carbon monoxide poisoning after a boiler malfunctioned in the cafeteria.

The Amherst Fire Department was called to the college's dining hall at about 3:30 p.m. Monday after two people reported shortness of breath, nausea and dizziness. Before the ambulance arrived, a third person complained of similar symptoms. A fourth victim went home first before being taken to the hospital. All four worked in the dining hall.

Fire Chief Tim Nelson tells The Republican newspaper that medics suspected carbon monoxide.

The dining hall was evacuated.

At first firefighters thought a vent may have been blocked by snow, but eventually determined that one of two boilers in the building was malfunctioning.

The dining hall later reopened on one boiler.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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