High School Hockey Team Sickened After Rink Air Problem

ANDOVER, N.H. – Officials at a New Hampshire prep school say 11 students were hospitalized after being exposed to nitrogen dioxide because a hockey rink's ventilation system had been shut off.

A Proctor Academy hockey player has been diagnosed with pneumonia and 10 others spent two nights in the hospital after being exposed to the gas at a Monday practice in Andover.

Officials say technicians worked on the rink's ventilation system Monday, intending to turn it back on Tuesday. Rink staff used a machine that produced the gas to condition the ice and the team then practiced in the unventilated building.

Proctor spokesman Chuck Will tells the Concord Monitor all 20 members of the team showed symptoms of nitrogen dioxide exposure, including tightness in the chest, shortness of breath and coughing.