Two people died and several others were treated Wednesday after they were exposed to an unknown substance at a senior residential community in Syracuse, New York, authorities said.
Syracuse fire personnel responded to a 911 call about two people possibly dead at Brighton Towers at 10:30 a.m., Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh said. First responders said two people were dead on arrival and another was taken to a local hospital with an «altered mental state».
The identities of the people who died have not been released. No other deaths were reported.
Three responding police officers began to feel unwell and were taken to SUNY Upstate Medical University for evaluation. A nurse who came in contact also began experiencing symptoms, Walsh said.
A firefighter and an EMS first responder were also treated, he said.
The officers were beginning to be released Wednesday, Walsh said.
The fire department’s hazmat team returned to assess the building for possible substance exposure. The team evacuated 18 units on the sixth floor of the Brighton Towers building.
People started feeling sick about 30 minutes after being exposed to the substance, Onondaga County Executive J. Ryan McMahon told reporters.
Hazardous materials officials were still working to identify the substance. McMahon said overdoses of xylazine, an animal sedative, spiked in the city over the weekend.
“We had over 40 confirmed cases concentrated downtown in the southwestern section of the city,” McMahon said. «It is unknown if any of these issues are related.»