22 fall ill from carbon monoxide leak at Calif. church

The Associated Press

CORONADO, Calif. — Authorities say 22 people, most of them schoolchildren, have been hospitalized after suffering carbon monoxide poisoning at a Catholic church in Southern California.

Coronado Fire Division Chief Ed Hadfield says the incident occurred Friday morning when two children fainted as they sat in a pew during Mass at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, which also operates a grade school.

Hadfield says other people reported feeling nausea, weakness and dizziness.

A total of 17 children and five adults were taken to hospitals. Another person who reported feeling ill was not hospitalized.

Hadfield says the church has been closed while San Diego County hazmat teams and a utility investigate the source of the carbon monoxide.