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At least one person has died of an apparent gas poisoning at an off-campus apartment near the University of Texas. VPC
Austin Fire Department responds to a hazmat situation that killed a man at 21 Pearl on April 13, 2016.(Photo: KVUE-TV, Austin)
AUSTIN<span style="color: Red;">*</span><span style="color: Red;">*</span>— <span style="color: Red;">*</span>A man in his 20s died Wednesday of what appeared to be hydrogen sulfide poisoning at an off-campus apartment near the University of Texas, authorities in Austin said during a press conference.
Six people who were nearby were taken to University Medical Center Brackenridge nearby, Eric Jakubauskas, division chief for Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services, said. Five others were checked at the scene but refused further treatment, EMS said.
"Our primary concern was twofold: to get our patient out ... and at the same time, go back into the building and make sure everybody else was safe, and try and understand what had occurred here," Austin Fire Department Division Chief Palmer Buck said.
The incident unfolded at about 2:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday, when emergency responders reported to the building for a call regarding a cardiac arrest, Jakubauskas said.
When authorities arrived, they found a sign on the apartment door that warned, "Danger: Watch out, hydrogen sulfide," Buck said.
Responders put on protective gear and found a young man inside the apartment<span style="color: Red;">*</span>not breathing and with no pulse, Jakubauskas said.
The responders put on protective gear and tried to revive the young man to no avail.
"This is not an uncommon method of chemical suicide," Buck said, adding that one can easily research it on the Internet.
ATCEMS has not confirmed that the death was a suicide.
"Whether that is what happened here or not, that is still under investigation,” Buck said. “But the warning signs certainly did clue us in to that.”
Some residents were sheltered in place while crews began ventilating the building.
UT student Kelsey Wong said<span style="color: Red;">*</span>she was not home during the evacuation, but lives at the apartment complex in question.
“We have a Facebook group and two hours ago, a girl posted asking why it smelled<span style="color: Red;">*</span>like rotten eggs,” Wong said. “Then people started commenting saying fifth and sixth (floors) smelled too. And then in all caps, this was posted into the group, ‘EVERYONE EVACUATE THE PROPERTY NOW. REPORT TO 22nd AND PEARL NOW.’ Then, basically everyone went into a crisis because they couldn't get inside to get their pets.”
The incident comes on the heels of the discovery of the body of UT freshman Haruka Weiser last Tuesday<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and the subsequent arrest of a teen in the death.
“Physically,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>I am fine since I wasn't at the scene,” Wong said. “But with Haruka’s death last week and now a possible chemical suicide at my apartment complex, it just makes you realize how fragile life is.”
The name of the man who died was<span style="color: Red;">*</span>being withheld pending notification of his family.
Contributing:<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Alexandra Samuels, USA TODAY College
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