OTTAWA: A total of 10 passengers were hospitalised when all 185 passengers were taken ill on board a plane at a Quebec City airport in Canada Thursday morning, according to local officials.
The passengers experienced various symptoms including itchy eyes, dizziness and vomiting during the plane’s de-icing before take-off, according to Xinhua news agency.
Ambulances were called and all passengers on board Air Transat flight 782 to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, were seen by paramedics about 11am local time Thursday.
Canadian media CTV reported that five of the passengers were sent to hospitals earlier Thursday, while officials of the CHU de Quebec, which oversees five hospitals in the capital region, announced later that 10 people from the airplane were taken to hospital, without providing additional details on their condition.
Firefighters evacuated the plane on the tarmac at Jean Lesage International Airport. They conducted a reading of the plane’s air quality and found it healthy.
The airline has launched its own investigation into the incident. An airport spokesman believed it could have been ventilation problem in the plane. – Bernama
