4 airport workers fall ill at LAX from apparent gas leak

A terminal at Los Angeles International Airport has been cleared and deemed safe after an apparent gas leak that sickened four people in Terminal 8, according to a tweet from the airport. The four people hurt in the incident Monday were all airport employees, according to an update provided by the Los Angeles Fire Department. The condition of the most severely sickened victim was upgraded from grave to critical earlier Monday. A woman and three men were working in or near a utility room “when a popping sound was heard, and the apparent release of Carbon Dioxide vapor took place,” an LAFD report said. A deluge of carbon dioxide from a fire suppression system inside a subterranean utility room displaced all of the oxygen inside the area, LAFD Capt. Erik Scott said in a news conference. The most seriously injured man, described as being in his 50s, was found not breathing and without a pulse inside the utility room. CPR was immediately performed and advanced life support given by emergency responders as he was taken to a nearby hospital, the Fire Department said in an incident report.<br/>