More than 150 people fell ill in stifling heat at a high school graduation ceremony in Paterson, New Jersey, where the city’s mayor has since declared a state of emergency.
Dozens of attendees had to be treated for heat-related illnesses at the ceremony, officials said.
At least five people were hospitalized for dehydration as students’ family and friends lined up outside Hinchliffe Stadium on Monday morning, Paterson public safety director Jerry Speziale told CBS New York.
Three of the four graduation ceremonies scheduled for Monday had to be cut short due to heat and health concerns.
Another woman was treated in an ambulance after suffering an asthma attack as temperatures soared into the high 90s.
“They gave me the breathing machine,” the woman, who didn’t give her name, said on Monday. “They wanted to take me [to the hospital], but I didn’t want to go because I didn’t want to miss my son’s graduation.”
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