Massive Evacuation At MGM Grand Las Vegas

A chemical leak caused a massive evacuation at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas Friday afternoon and sent 26 guests to the hospital.

More than 1,500 guests had to be evacuated from the resorts pool complex after some began complaining of difficulty breathing.

Emergency personal was called to the scene and treated approximately 100 people on site with oxygen tanks and sent another 26 to area hospitals with slightly more severe reactions.

Hazardous materials coordinator, Richard Brenner of the Clark County Fire Department said that a mechanical malfunction caused a valve controlling the flow of sodium hypochlorite to not shut properly sending an abundance of the chemical into the water and fumes into the air.

While the incident occurred at the Lazy River pool, all of the resorts five pools were evacuated as a precaution.

Hazmat crews deemed the water safe and allowed MGM to reopen the pools approximately three hours later.

Brenner said that all guests affected including the ones transported to hospitals were expected to be ok.