According to the Cambridge Fire Department, eight kids who were singing in a youth choir at a church close to Harvard University had “seizure-like” symptoms.
The eight kids had performed on stage on July 22 at St. Paul Parish in Cambridge, Massachusetts. They were part of the Choeur d’Enfants d’Île-de-France, a famous young choir that travels the world to play symphonies in churches.
However, witnesses told first responders that some of the children were ill during the performance because of a “stranger odour.”
The first to arrive on the scene were Cambridge firefighters, who treated the 11–13-year
-old children for non-life-threatening conditions before taking them to hospitals. Before the concert, none of the youngsters had been experiencing any health issues.
Source: Unsplash
“We did have one student within a choir group that was sitting on the front steps that wasn’t actively seizing,”
Acting Fire Chief Thomas Cahill told Boston local news station WCVB at the scene. “That quickly escalated into seven other people that had seizure-like symptoms.”
There were about seventy persons at the concert. The workers stated they couldn’t find anything alarming, despite some parents and kids reporting they smelt a fragrance to local news stations.
As a precaution, hazmat teams searched the premises, but they couldn’t find anything that seemed to have caused the disease.
“This was somewhat unusual,” Cahill said. “It was a routine medical call that quickly escalated into transporting eight children to the hospital. Not common.”
Following the children’s hospital admission, Cahill stated that authorities were still “not sure” what might have caused the seizures.
“At this time we are not sure of what caused the reaction,” Cahill told The Boston Globe.
The Cambridge Fire Department posted information on the incident and answered comments on Facebook.
“At approximately 730 pm, 22nd, companies responded to 29 Mt. Auburn St, St. Paul Parish, for a medical emergency.
Eight people were treated for non-life-threatening medical emergencies on scene, and all were transported to medical facilities for further evaluation. Approx 70 other people in attendance at a choir concert at St. Paul’s were not affected,” the post began.
“The Fire Dept hazmat team completed a thorough survey of the St. Paul buildings utilizing several air sampling meters to ensure that no hazardous conditions were present. Results were negative and the buildings were ventilated.”
“All occupants & concert attendees left the scene with designated chaperones.”
A Cambridge Fire Department representative dismissed the likelihood of a carbon monoxide leak in response to a worried citizen’s comment.
“No CO was detected via several fire company air sampling meters,” they responded.
