7 children fall ill at AGO
Posted October 26, 2012 3:49 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Hazmat team is investigating after seven children fell ill at the Art Gallery of Ontario on Friday afternoon.
One child fainted and four others complained of abdominal pain while viewing the Frida & Diego exhibit.
They were taken to hospital as a precaution and are expected to be fine.
“Preliminary indications are it might be carbon monoxide,” Toronto police Sgt. Ian McLaughlin said.
“There’s no levels of anything outside the ordinary inside the AGO. It may have been something out in the street, like a construction site or a bus idling,” he added.
The children are about 10 or 11 years old, he said. They had taken the subway to the gallery.
An adult woman was also taken to hospital from the AGO, but it was unrelated to the children falling ill, McLaughlin said.
The AGO released a statement, saying, “As the safety of visitors and staff is the AGO’s top priority, the exhibition space was immediately cleared and environmental conditions were fully assessed.”
“Testing confirmed that the Gallery’s air quality is excellent throughout the building, and shortly thereafter the exhibition was re-opened.”
