Mashpee store workers sickened by dry ice

MASHPEE, Mass. (AP) -- A fire official says five workers at a Cape Cod supermarket required medical treatment after becoming sick from exposure to dry ice.

Four were taken to a hospital while a fourth was treated at the scene Monday morning.

Mashpee Fire Chief George Baker tells the Cape Cod Times one worker at the Roche Bros. store became weak and ill after spending time in a walk-in refrigerator where dry ice was stored.

The other employees went to his aid and were also sickened.

Baker says the dry ice probably displaced the oxygen in the cooler.

No names were released.

Customers were not endangered. Baker says the store does not normally have dry ice but brought some in to keep products cold while a refrigeration unit was being maintained.

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