Two restaurant workers were rushed to the hospital after being overcome by carbon monoxide at a Hell's Kitchen eatery, a leak that prompted fire officials to briefly evacuate the building.
The employees, one of whom was knocked unconscious, were taken to New York-Cornell Medical Center after they succumbed to the gas escaping from a defective oil burner in the basement of Turkish Cuisine restaurant on 9th Avenue near 45th Street at 3:40 p.m.
"When the company arrived on scene, their carbon-monoxide meters ran at 1,000 parts per million," said FDNY Battalion Chief Mike Meyers, who added that safe levels are just 10 parts per million.
The stricken workers, who were not identified, will spend the next 24 hours in an oxygen chamber and are listed in serious condition.
Ten residents ordered to briefly leave the building were allowed back inside, but not before being chilled to the bone during today's cold snap.
"I was buying groceries, then I came back and firefighters told me, 'You can't go in.' Now I'm cold as hell and my hands are freezing." said John Zieley, 86, a retired actor who has called the building home for 44 years.
Meyers said that carbon monoxide poisoning is especially dangerous in wintertime, as cold weather prompts chilled residents to cover windows with plastic, concentrating the effects of a leak.
He said everyone should make sure carbon-monoxide detectors are installed and working.
Carbon monoxide leak sickens 2 in Hell's Kitchen
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Carbon monoxide leak sickens 2 in Hell's Kitchen
