Ten people, including nine first responders, were hospitalized after an unknown substance sickened them at an Alice hotel Friday.
ALICE, Texas — Ten people were taken to the hospital following a hazmat incident at an Alice hotel Friday that also prompted CHRISTUS Spohn Hospital Alice to temporarily go into lockdown.
The incident began shortly after 11:30 a.m. at the Quality Inn in the 500 block of North Johnson Street on the north side of Alice.
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Alice Police Chief Eden Garcia said officers were called to the hotel at 11:38 a.m. after a woman was found unconscious inside a second-floor room.
Officers began administering first aid while waiting for an ambulance. As emergency crews moved the woman from the room, two police officers began feeling dizzy and lightheaded. Garcia said one of the officers fainted.
The officers and the woman were taken to CHRISTUS Spohn Hospital Alice. After arriving at the hospital, two emergency medical technicians who had treated and transported the woman also began feeling dizzy and lightheaded.
Garcia said a total of 10 people were being treated at the hospital, including nine first responders and the woman found inside the hotel room.
The hospital was placed on lockdown as a precaution. That lockdown was lifted around 2 p.m. Friday, according to CHRISTUS Health.
The Quality Inn was also evacuated while investigators worked to determine what caused the illnesses. Garcia said the incident appeared to be isolated to one room, but officials had not identified the substance involved or determined how the patients were exposed.
“We are not sure what we’re dealing with, so we’re taking every precaution necessary to make sure that we get it right and no one else gets hurt,” Garcia said.
Officials said the patients, including the woman initially found unconscious, were doing okay at the time of the interview.
Alice police and firefighters, the Texas Department of Public Safety, Corpus Christi Fire Department, local constables and the Texas Division of Emergency Management were assisting at the scene.
Garcia said crews would remain at the hotel for as long as necessary to identify the hazard and ensure the property was safe.
Stay with 3NEWS as this story continues to develop.
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