At least 70 people reportedly overdosed on an unknown drug in a New Haven, Connecticut park in the US. Initial reports suggest that the drugs might have been laced with an opioid, K2, a synthetic drug similar to marijuana.
No fatalities have been reported, but some of the individuals are in critical condition, the BBC reported. The cause of the overdose was probably a virulent batch of K2. Police have taken two suspects have been taken into custody. They have reportedly been charged with drug possession.
According to a report by the New York Times, New Haven's chief of Police Anthony Campbell said that the first batch of overdose occurred at 8 pm at New Haven Green in New York. By Wednesday morning, there were reports of overdose from three other locations in the city, including Fairhaven and Westville.
Police arrested one of the suspects on Wednesday. The man is suspected of being connected to the overdoses that were first reported near the Yale University on Tuesday night, NBC News Connecticut reported.
It is believed victims might have taken doses of K2 -- a synthetic drug marketed as being similar to marijuana. Dr Kathryn Hawk, an Emergency Department physician at the Yale-New Haven Hospital, said the drug was laced with fentanyl, but police were yet to confirm, the BBC report said.
John Alston Jr., the New Haven fire chief said that the substance which was ingested could not be treated with Narcan, a medicine normally used to counter high level of drugs in the body. One person who was brought in to the hospital was treated, discharged and overdosed again, according to Chief Aston.
The incident follows a new report that found a record 72,000 Americans died of overdoses in 2017.
[With inputs from IANS]
