Linden High School evacuated after cafeteria workers sickened

LINDEN, New Jersey (WABC) -- Linden High School was evacuated Thursday morning after staff workers in the school cafeteria became sickened.

According to the Linden Fire Department, 19 workers started complaining that their throats hurt and were irritated.

The fire department responded and recommended an evacuation pending clearance from the Union County Hazmat team.

All the students and faculty were evacuated safely and none were sickened. School was dismissed at around 11 a.m.

The Hazmat team went through the school with meters and got negative results so the cause of the problem is not yet known, but authorities say it was confined to the cafeteria.

A similar incident took place on Tuesday in West Babylon, where 35 students and faculty had to be hospitalized and treated after two students allegedly discharged mace inside the high school, an incident that caused panic.

Officials in Linden are trying to find out who is responsible for Thursday's scare, but say everything is being cleaned in order to resume classes Friday.