Port Jefferson, NY – Sixteen people were taken to the hospital after being exposed to carbon monoxide on a private boat Sunday afternoon, Suffolk police said.
Captain Ryan, a 35-foot boat, was traveling from City Island in the Bronx to Port Jefferson when numerous people onboard became sick with carbon monoxide poisoning at about 2 p.m.
The boat was able to dock at Danford’s Marina at 25 East Broadway with 16 out of the 17 people on board sick. Marine Bureau and Sixth Precinct police officers, as well as members of the Port Jefferson Fire Department, the United States Coast Guard, Brookhaven Town bay constables and fire marshals, responded to the dock and determined there was carbon monoxide inside the cabin of the boat, affecting 12 adults and four children ages 10 to 13.
The origin of the carbon monoxide is under investigation but has been ruled non-criminal, police said. After a safety inspection of the vessel, two tickets were issued for having expired safety flares and having less than the required number of personal floatation devices.