Around 70 people suffered carbon monoxide poisoning, including five seriously, at a private indoor karting event in central Belgium on Saturday, authorities said. The incident took place at around 8:30pm at a newly opened indoor karting venue in Wavre, a suburban town about 30 kilometres (20 miles) southeast of Brussels.
The victims were taken to local hospitals across central Belgium for treatment. "Everyone has been evacuated from the karting site and none of the victims remain in serious danger," Wavre's mayor Francoise Pigeolet said, according to the Belga news agency. Town authorities said about 150 people were in attendance at the event.
Media reports said customers two nights earlier had already complained of carbon monoxide fumes.
Pigeolet said investigators believed that a faulty ventilation system was the likely cause of the incident. On its Facebook page, Wavre Indoor Karting said it was "obviously deeply sorry about the incident" and gave its "whole-hearted" support to the victims.
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