Man Dies from Carbon Monoxide Leak at Long Island Restaurant
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ABC News(NEW YORK) — One person is dead and over two dozen were hospitalized after a carbon monoxide leak in a restaurant at a Long Island mall Saturday night.
Police first got a call that someone had passed out at the Legal Seafoods at Long Island’s Walt Whitman Mall just as the restaurant was beginning to see its dinner crowd, and when first responders arrived, they started feeling ill, too.
The colorless, odorless poison killed 55-year-old Steve Nelson, the restaurant manager.
More than two dozen people were taken to hospitals; most of them have been treated and released.
The restaurant has not made an official statement, but Legal Seafoods did post a message on their Twitter account, saying “We are profoundly saddened to learn of the tragic death of our General Manager Steve Nelson. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.”
According to police spokeswoman Joan Jesinger, the leak appeared to have come from the restaurant’s heating system.
“The carbon monoxide appears to be confined to the basement of Legal Seafoods,” Jesinger said. “Homicide and arson squad detectives are continuing the investigation.”
According to ABC’s Mara Schiavocampo, as of Saturday morning, there was a sign on the door declaring the building condemned and closed to the public.
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