4 workers injured, 1 hospitalized, after carbon dioxide leak at Los Angeles International Airport
Four people were injured, including one that was hospitalized in critical condition, after a carbon dioxide leak at Los Angeles International Airport Monday caused a partial evacuation.
The incident began around 7 a.m. after airport officials reported "an apparent gas leak" near the Terminal 8 baggage area, airport officials said.
Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson Capt. Erik Scott said in a news conference the leak happened in a utility room about 200 feet away from the baggage area. Four independent contractors, three men and one woman, were in the utility room when they heard a "popping sound," which fire officials determined to be the release of carbon dioxide in the room.
Scott said it was a "full deluge" of carbon dioxide that took place of the oxygen inside the room. Three of the workers got out, but one of them, identified as a 50-year-old man, was still in the room.
Responding emergency services arrived within five minutes of the incident, Scott said, and found the man in cardiac arrest without a pulse. Los Angeles International Airport police officers performed CPR on the 50-year-old man and additional medical assistance applied by paramedics. He eventually began breathing on his own as he was taken to a local hospital, and his status was updated from grave to critical, fire officials said.
The three other workers were treated at the scene for minor complaints, officials said. No travelers were injured as approximately 100 people were moved to a nearby terminal for safety precautions. Firefighters used blowers to move the gas out of the terminal.
"It's like moving an invisible air bubble around," Scott said. "It's a challenge. It's colorless, it's odorless."
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Scott said hazardous materials specialists traced small amounts of carbon dioxide in the area in the late morning after the evacuation, but said the situation was under control.
The airport tweeted that United, which serves the affected terminal, continued operations through Terminal 7 during the incident. A ground stop was ordered for Los Angeles-bound flights, but it was lifted at 10 a.m. and Terminal 8 was reopened and repopulated after it was deemed safe by fire officials.
Follow Jordan Mendoza on Twitter: @jordan_mendoza5.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: LAX carbon dioxide leak: Partial evacuation at Los Angeles airport
