Man Injured By Chemical In Suspicious Box, FBI Investigating
September 12, 2008 by national
Filed under Stories of Interest
Greenville Department of Public Safety Director Michael Stuck said a high concentration of fertilizer led to a man being injured and the evacuation of a hospital’s emergency room.
The FBI is investigating the incident and Montcalm County sheriff’s deputies told 24 Hour News 8 they are handling the case as a criminal investigation.
It was around 8:30 a.m. Thursday when the incident occurred at a home on Arloa Drive near Burgess Lake in Eureka Township southwest of Greenville.
The 27-year-old homeowner found a wooden box that was left in his driveway overnight. He opened the box and an unknown – at the time – substance was released as he inspected it, creating a liquid chemical reaction. The substance hit him in the face, causing facial injuries and began eating away at his clothing.
Witnesses near the home told us they heard a “thud,” then went out and saw their injured neighbor.
He was taken by ambulance to Spectrum Health System’s United Memorial Hospital in Greenville. After he arrived, hospital officials evacuated 26 patients and staff from the emergency room for fear they had become contaminated. The evacuees were decontaminated in large tents outside the hospital around 10 a.m.
Ambulances were diverted from United Memorial Hospital to Spectrum’s Kelsey Hospital in Lakeview and Carson City Hospital. The hospital was accepting walk-up patients to the emergency room until 4 p.m. when the E.R. reopened.
