A Baltimore-Washington airport hotel has been evacuated in a carbon monoxide scare, with nine people hospitalized.
The incident happened at the 260-room Westin hotel in Maryland after a hotel worker collapsed and subsequently high levels of carbon monoxide were found throughout the hotel.
Eight members of staff and one hotel guest were taken to hospital according to Lieutenant Russ Davies of the local County Fire Department.
The property was evacuated and ventilated, and the source of the gas leak was cut off by the fire department, said Davies.
He added that at the time of the evacuation, 64 rooms in the hotel were occupied.
Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas with no color or smell, and can prove fatal in high concentrations in confined spaces.
The hotel is managed by Starwood Hotels and Resorts group.
Last year, three guests died in two separate incidents at a Boone, North Carolina hotel which was later confirmed to be caused by carbon monoxide poisoning.
