Carbon Monoxide Fells VA Tech Students

Five female roommates were seriously poisoned yesterday after a carbon monoxide leak in off-campus housing at Virginia Tech sickened 19 people. Two of the women remained in critical condition and three were listed as serious.The accident was yet another blow for the school which yesterday dedicated a memorial to 32 victims killed by a campus gunman in April.

All five roommates were found unconscious in their beds. They were discovered after a neighbor who fell ill called a repairman to fix what she initially thought was a gas leak. Two workmen dragged the roommates into a breezeway and paramedics were called. The leak appeared to come from a faulty valve on a water heater in the women's apartment. (More Virginia Tech stories.)