World News | 8 Children Taken to Hospitals After Seizure-like Symptoms at Harvard Square Church Concert
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. Eight children at a church near Harvard University where a French youth choir was holding a concert suffered seizure-like symptoms and were taken to hospitals, officials said.
Cambridge (US), Jul 23 (AP) Eight children at a church near Harvard University where a French youth choir was holding a concert suffered seizure-like symptoms and were taken to hospitals, officials said.
The symptoms were not life-threatening, the Cambridge Fire Department said in a news release. About 70 other people in attendance at the concert Tuesday evening at St Paul's Parish in Harvard Square were not affected.
Crews first received a call about a child suffering from a seizure. When firefighters arrived, the child was sitting outside of the church but was not actively having a seizure, Fire Chief Thomas Cahill said.
“That quickly escalated into seven other people having seizure-like symptoms,” Cahill told WCVB-TV.
The department's hazmat team “completed a thorough survey of the St Paul buildings utilising several air sampling metres to ensure that no hazardous conditions were present,” the news release said. “Results were negative and the buildings were ventilated.”
St Paul's Facebook Page said a French youth choir, the Chœur d'Enfants d'Île-de-France, was offering a free concert at the church on Tuesday night as part of its 2025 US tour.
“Founded in 1970, the youth choir has travelled extensively and performed with some of the world's top conductors and soloists,” St Paul's said. “The concert will feature an exciting mix of sacred and secular repertoire, as well as popular French songs.”
Messages seeking comment were emailed to St Paul's and to the Harvard Catholic Centre, the Catholic chaplaincy for Harvard University students and other academic institutions in the area. (AP)
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)