VIDEO: An apparent “mass casualty” overdose incident shut down roads and sent 27 people to local hospitals in West Baltimore on Thursday, and police are investigating how it happened. Emergency crews were dispatched around 9:20 a.m. Thursday to the area of Pennsylvania and North avenues, where they initially encountered one suspected overdose victim. However, community members quickly alerted responders to additional unconscious people nearby, according to Baltimore City Fire Chief James Wallace. โThis is a Level 1 mass casualty incident,โ Wallace said during a news conference Thursday. โOur initial responders recognized right away where this was heading and called for a lot of resources.โ
On Thursday, authorities said at least 15 were hospitalized but revised the number of victims up to 27 at a news conference Friday morning as more victims were transported to hospitals overnight. Though none of the victims have died, seven were in critical condition, 15 in serious condition, and five were classified as non-critical. The Baltimore City Fire Department deployed 13 medic units and four fire suppression units to the scene.
