What seemed like a fun-filled dip at a recreational facility in Colorado turned into a health hazard for a group of weekend swimmers. State authorities revealed that at least 22 people felt sick after swimming at the Bob L. Burger Recreation Center in Lafayette.
David Friedel, the city's fire chief, shared to ABC News that the cause of the mishap is still unknown. However, he did speculate that the facility's pool water may have contained too much chlorine or other chemicals as victims reported symptoms such as nausea and vomiting.
"That's not to say there wasn't anything there before," he said. "But at this time we could not detect any levels' of any chemical that could be deemed the culprit."
Joe Malinowski, an environmental health manager for Boulder County Public Health, said the facility did not contain any air contaminants which may have caused the victims to feel sick. Health authorities are still doing test on the pool water as all indication points to faulty chlorination system.
Several emergency response teams swarmed to the scene and later took the victims to five different hospitals. Other visitors of the Bob L. Burger Recreation Center were all evacuated and taken to a nearby elementary school, Daily Mail reported.
"I was getting ready to walk into the locker room and people were coming out coughing and choking and having a hard time breathing," said one witness. "I don't know what exactly happened but I felt it in my eyes."
Doctors at the Good Samaritan Medical Center said 7 of the victims have responded well to medication and have now been released from the hospital. As for the Bob L. Burger Recreation Center, the facility is currently off-limits to the public as investigation is still going on. It will be reopened soon, but authorities have yet to announce when.
