Eight children from the same choir were raced to hospital mid-performance after suffering seizures in a church.
The horror episode unfolded around 7pm Monday in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as the children all experienced seizures at the same time.
Some of the children said that they started feeling unwell during their choir performance at St. Paul’s Parish church due to an odor, reports WCVB.
Witnesses also told first responders they smelled an odor, however crews reportedly said they did not detect any strange smells when they arrived.
All of the children were aged between 11 and 13 and were part of a traveling choir from France.
Cambridge Fire Chief Thomas Cahill said that the situation ‘quickly escalated’, and said the children were all transported to nearby hospitals. Their condition is unknown.
‘This was somewhat unusual,’ Cahill said. ‘It was a routine medical call that quickly escalated into transporting eight children to the hospital. Not common.’
Officials said they are baffled by what caused the mass-seizures, as hazmat teams scoured the building and found nothing that appeared to have triggered it.
The performance was attended by around 70 others, none of whom were affected.
Cahill said that the children showed no signs of being unwell prior to the performance.
He told the Boston Globe: ‘At this time we are not sure of what caused the reaction.’
He said that the choir performers are expected to be OK, but did not offer details over their conditions.
Fire crews and hazmat teams conducted a sweep of the building and found no hazardous materials, and said they were ventilated as a precaution.
The children were members of Chœur d’Enfants d’Île-de-France, a renowned youth choir that travel the world performing symphonies for churches.