Carbon monoxide leak at Atlanta school sickens nearly 50 people

Nearly 50 students and teachers were hospitalized in Atlanta on Monday after becoming ill due to a carbon monoxide leak at an elementary school, officials said.

The 43 students and six teachers from Finch Elementary School were all "conscious and alert" when they were taken to the hospitals, Atlanta Fire Department spokeswoman Marian McDaniel said.

Officials determined a faulty furnace at the 3-year-old school to be the source of the leak, McDaniel said. Carbon monoxide levels inside the school were "the highest we've ever seen," she said.

The school doesn't have carbon monoxide detectors, and none are required by Georgia law, McDaniel said.
Read more by David Beasley at: http://planetark.org/wen/67301