Carbon dioxide leak at LAX leaves worker in critical condition, more ill, officials say
A carbon dioxide leak at Los Angeles International Airport left one worker in critical condition and three more sickened, California officials said.
The four workers were “in or near” a utility room over 200 feet away from the Terminal 8 baggage area when they heard a “popping sound” and “carbon dioxide vapor” was released the morning of Monday, Oct. 31, the Los Angeles Fire Department said in a news release.
Three of the workers, two men and one woman, were treated at the airport for “minor complaints,” the fire department said.
“The fourth worker … was found pulseless and non-breathing inside the utility room,” LAFD said.
Paramedics performed CPR and “advanced life support” on the 36-year-old man, who officials said is a contract worker, before he was taken to a hospital, where “his condition was upgraded from grave to critical,” according to LAFD.
Following the incident, as LAFD investigated, passengers in Terminal 8 were sent to Terminal 7, according to a series of tweets from LAX.
“This is under control,” LAFD Capt. Erik Scott said at a news conference, the Los Angeles Times reported. “We need to reset that [carbon dioxide] system. Make sure it’s up and functioning properly before we can repopulate people in here.”
The leak did not affect “any of the travelers medically,” Scott said, ABC7 News reported.
“They were not in an area by this electrical room. There was no passageway where they could come in contact with carbon dioxide,” Scott said, according to the outlet.
A hazardous materials team was sent to the airport, according to LAFD, and only found “trace residue of carbon dioxide” inside the utility room.
“No escalating or off-site hazard was identified,” the fire department said.
This story was originally published October 31, 2022 at 4:19 PM with the headline "Carbon dioxide leak at LAX leaves worker in critical condition, more ill, officials say."
