1 Dead, 29 Overcome by Carbon Monoxide Poisoning at Long Island Mall
Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 | Updated 9:59 AM EST
One person was killed and more than two dozen others were sickened by an apparent carbon monoxide leak from a restaurant at a Long Island mall Saturday.
Suffolk County police said rescue workers responded to the Legal Sea Foods restaurant at the Walt Whitman Shops shortly after 6 p.m. for a report that a woman had fallen and hit her head in the eatery's basement.
After they arrived, police and emergency personnel felt nauseated and dizzy and believed it to be caused by carbon monoxide, authorities said.
The restaurant was evacuated, along with two neighboring restaurants, and that's when the 55-year-old manager of the restaurant, Steven Nelson, was found dead in the basement.
Police said 27 others, including rescue workers and restaurant workers, were taken to hospitals.
On their facebook page, Legal Sea Foods posted a statement saying they were devasted by Nelson's death.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with Steve's family and all those who were affected by the leak," the statement reads. "Steve's tragic death is a shock to all of us at Legal Sea Foods. He was one of the finest people we've ever had the pleasure of working with. This is a very sad day."
Officials are concentrating on the heating system as the possible source of the leak.
"Right now, we are inspecting the heating system, and this incident seems to be confined to the basement area. It does not appear to have made it in the area of the restaurant where the customers were," said Lt. Jack Fitzpatrick.
Carbon monoxide is odorless and colorless and can lead to death by suffocation.
In addition to the Legal Sea Foods restaurant, two others, Panera and a Cheesecake Factory outlet, were evacuated as a precaution, even as the mall remained open.
"They told us to leave because of a gas leak," Cheesecake Factory patron Kathy Sella said. "I didn't want to blow up or anything like that. We were at the bar having a glass of wine and then, one of the waitresses, she said 'you have to leave.'"
Copyright Associated Press
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/loca...man-Mall-Restaurants-Evacuated-246717101.html
