NEARLY 120 PEOPLE SUFFERED RESPIRATORY DISTRESS and had to be transported Monday morning when noxious fumes suddenly emanated from a trash disposal facility in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
There was no vapor cloud or any other visible warning before the sickly odor started sweeping over the area where hand-sorting of dumped trash was taking place. Suddenly, and without warning, dozens of people started passing out and collapsing. When the first responders arrived a major haz-mat and mass casualty disaster event was implemented.
WPRI-TV Ch.12 has this report from the site:
The Boston Globe reports:
Of the people who were transported to hospitals, at least a dozen were police officers, firefighters, and paramedics who unknowingly rushed into the fume’s perimeters. Most complained of itchy throats and eyes and nausea, while close to a dozen said they blacked out at some point. Two people were found unconscious when emergency crews arrived.
“People were passed out, unconscious, those were the words being used’’ in initial calls, said Fire Chief Paul Leger. “They were being told they were overcome by some type of an odor.’’
More than 100 people had to be decontaminated, as well as emergency equipment and vehicles.
Late last night, investigators narrowed down the cause to a truckload of refuse that had come from a construction site just outside of New Bedford. The two men who were unloading the truck were the first to go down and both of them are in the hospital in critical condition this morning.
The police have secured the entire area at ABC Disposal’s dump site by declaring it a crime scene while they attempt to determine whether it was an accident or a deliberate act.
The Providence Journal has the FULL STORY.
WPRI-TV also filed this update late last night:
