On January 18 evening, several dozen people were slightly poisoned at the ice stadium in Čaňa, in the Košice-Vicinity district.
When firemen arrived after 19:00, they found that carbon monoxide was leaking, an officer of the dispatching centre of Košice fire-brigade, Roman Keruľ, informed the SITA newswire the next day.
Spokesperson of the Košice police Jana Mésarová added that police were also dispatched to the accident site.
“About 90 people were evacuated from the stadium, of which 23 complained, citing dizziness and headache,” Keruľ said. “Others left but then returned due to headaches. A total of 36 people were affected,” the officer summed up. The afflicted viewers were given first aid and then placed in local gym where medical staff treated them and then gradually drove them to hospitals. The most seriously impacted fans were driven to the hospital Košice-Šaca which has a hyberbaric chamber enabling oxygen therapy.
Detection devices measured a high concentration of CO – around 400 ppm (the number of a substance’s particles per 1 million of other particles). The unit of specialised Control Chemical Laboratory (KCHL) of Civilian Defence from Jasov was called for help, but later measurements showed that the concentration was declining. KCHL employees found around 55 ppm of CO and the last ones 18 ppm of CO. By noon on Monday, firemen failed to detect the location and source of the carbon monoxide leakage.
All 11 patients brought to Košice-Šaca were stabilised.
(Source: SITA)
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
