Walmart evacuated

More than 60 people were taken to area hospitals yesterday, complaining of nausea, burning eyes, and shortness of breath after being exposed to an unknown, apparently airborne irritant at a Wal-Mart in Danvers, authorities said.

Sign up for: Globe Headlines e-mail Breaking News Alerts The emergency began with a 9 11 call at about 2:30 p.m. from someone at the store who complained about an unknown gas wafting through the air, fire officials said. Firefighters and hazardous materials teams responded, setting up a yellow tent where they sprayed exiting employees and shoppers with decontaminants.

Wal-Mart officials shut the store and evacuated everyone inside. The victims were taken to several hospitals in the area; none of their injuries were considered life threatening, authorities said.

Sergeant Carole Germano of the Danvers Fire Department said that the store's ventilation system was working at the time of the 9 11 call and that no flammable gases were detected inside the Wal-Mart. Germano said investigators were not sure what had afflicted people inside the store yesterday.

``It's just some unknown irritant," Germano said. ``They don't even know what it is right now."

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