Nineteen people, including shoppers and clerks of the Big C The Garden supermarket in Me Tri Street in Hanoi, fainted when they were in the building's basement parking lot on March 14 due to CO2 poisoning as the ventilation system was out of order.
Some witnesses said that the incident happened at 6PM in the supermarket’s shopping mall's basement. At that time, it was crowded with customers; suddenly, a few women including supermarket clerks felt dizzy, vomiting and fainted. Followings were many other people who also felt unconscious.
After the incident happened, relatives of some women and safeguards have given them first –aid. These women gained consciousness and returned home soon. But some people were hospitalized at the Ministry of Public Security’s Hospital 198, 2 kilometer far from the supermarket.
According to doctors of the Emergency Ward, 19 customers and supermarket clerks were hospitalized when they suffered headache, vomiting and breathing problem. At the hospital, they were placed on a ventilator; five of them were discharged after that. Next morning, all cases of hospitalization came out of hospital in stable condition.
According to the initial investigation, the supermarket organized a musical performance so people flocked to watch. It resulted in more vehicles at the basement and its exhausted fumes from these vehicles gave off the supermarket while the supermarket’s air conditioner did not work properly; consequently, many people dizzied and fainted due to inhaling toxic gases.
