Posted on 05/16/2002 6:40:15 PM PDT by dogbyte12
/16/02) YONKERS - St. Joseph's Medical Center in Yonkers has been closed. The entire community surrounding 223 Nepperhan Avenue and Elm Street has been closed. At least two people are on life support. Reports say several hundred people have been quarantined.
Reports suggest that cyanide gas may be responsible.
Stay tuned to News 12 Westchester for continuing live coverage and Chopper 12 footage.
Don't be so sure. Since Yonkers doesn't really have its own TV station (News 12 serves several areas, and apparently isn't affiliated with many of the major networks)...It's not going to be easy for the major networks to do reports or even know about it..
Especially since the key to all this is AP. You see how long it took for AP to post something (the post below yours) There are probably only a few people working in the AP state bureau (again, likely not in Yonkers), and they may have to report it all by phone, or by sending someone there, which would take a few hours.
Link to Strange Cluster of Microbiologists' Deaths Under the Microscope.
The New York Post is holding the online edition which is a good sign, I usually get to read Page Six by now-that means there are big stories on the front pages..
"Mexican police have found a stolen lorry carrying 10 tons of sodium cyanide, but one drum containing the deadly chemical had been opened and most of the others are missing.
The Environmental Ministry has urged border agents to take extra precautions to ensure that large amounts of the chemical aren't smuggled out of the country.
But officials called the alert "precautionary" and said there was no evidence any sodium cyanide had left Mexico or that it could be used in a terrorist attack.
Authorities cordoned off the area around Zacatlan where the truck was discovered, 120 miles northwest of Mexico City.
Health officials found no evidence of contamination in the area.
Only 13 out of the 96 drums were still inside the truck and local authorities are investigating the whereabouts of the missing chemicals by interviewing people who live near where the truck was discovered.
No one has been arrested in connection with the truck robbery, which took place last Friday. Police are seeking information about three armed men who authorities believe stole the vehicle based on witness accounts.
Sodium cyanide is used in gold and silver mining. If inhaled or ingested, it attacks the nervous system and can cause a person to suffocate within minutes.
Although most of the dangerous chemicals have not been accounted for, Frederico Perez, director of police in neighbouring Hidalgo state, said it was unlikely that the robbers would use them in any kind of terrorist attack in Mexico or the United States.
Most likely, the men absconded with the drums without even realising that dangerous chemicals were inside, he said."
(Yonkers-WABC, May 17, 2002) Health officials are trying to figure out what made several people in Yonkers extremely ill Thursday evening. Whatever made them sick was potent enough to leave several of them in serious condition at St. Joseph's hospital, and to prompt an evacuation of their neighborhood.
At first there was concern that an airborne agent might be involved in the incident, however experts on the scene report that was not the case. Family members of some of those sickened say their loved ones had just returned from a visit overseas, and brought home vegetables that were cooked with some meat and eaten at a celebratory meal. They reportedly blamed their illness on the meat they'd eaten, however doctors involved say this is not like any case of food poisoning they've ever seen.
Members of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the FBI and the Centers for Disease Control were on the scene Thursday, and continue to investigate the cause of the illnesses
Pretty flimsy story.
1+5=6, and 2 5s are 55-- that makes it about 6:55, exactly 12 minutes before my first post on this thread, when I first started to read about the quarantine-- there's safety in numbers, but not in aged, imported egyptian vegetables laced with cyanide.
Strange. I first read your post at 4:55 and this post will probably appear at 5:00. All these 5's are making me nervous.
You have it! Look what timestamp your post has.
I would think any local newspeople would be getting some kind of info out,even if it was worthless.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.