25 students and members of staff at a southeastern Utah elementary school were admitted to nearby hospitals for treatment after a carbon monoxide leak sickened a handful of people in the building.
According to the San Juan County Sheriff's Office, which spoke with the Associated Press, one student and one adult at the Montezuma Creek school were airlifted out of the building due to the severity of their illnesses. 23 other adults and students were rushed to nearby medical facilities, after they, too, became sick from the noxious fumes. The administration evacuated the building soon after reports of the victims surfaced.
Most of the afflicted were sent to a hospital in Blanding, located around 40 miles north of Montezuma Creek. Officials could not immediately provide details on the nature of their respective conditions.
The rest of the 280-odd people in the building at the time of the gas leak were evacuated, and the school was closed all of Monday. Administrative officials told AP that they planned to reopen the school on Tuesday.
It appeared that the leak happened as a result of a water heater with a stopped-up ventilation system, the school superintendent, along with the Sheriff's Office, told AP.
Law enforcement officials were first called to the school when students reported feeling woozy and sick. Emergency response crews from a few cities and towns in the vicinity also responded to these calls. The leak was said to have occurred at about 8 a.m., just as students and staff arrived at the school to begin classes.
