Nursing Home Evacuated After Cleaning Crew Creates Toxic Gas

Residents and staff of a nursing home in Ridgeland, South Carolina, were evacuated Monday morning after they were exposed to chlorine gas, WTOC News reports.

Cleaning crews mixed bleach and an ice machine cleaner, creating the toxic gas. Hazmat crews called to the scene cleaned the agent and cleared the toxic fumes from the facility. By late afternoon, all residents were back in their rooms and most staff had returned to work.

About 20 people experienced respiratory problems and were treated at local hospitals. Fortunately, no one was seriously injured, unlike an incident earlier this month in Massachusetts when the general manager of a restaurant died when trying to remove a toxic mixture that an employee had accidently created while cleaning the kitchen floor.