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Several employees at the satellite Miami-Dade courthouse in Coral Gables fell mysteriously ill yesterday. HazMat crews evacuated the building, and the courthouse will remain closed today. The building had just been fumigated with pesticides earlier in the month, but officials are not entirely sure what caused the employees to fall ill.
Seven employees were transported to the hospital.
“This is a precautionary measure to protect the public and all personnel who work in the building, and to make the building available to the county for any follow-up testing they may need to do on Friday,” Chief Judge Joel H. Brown told the media in a news release.
On October 8, the building was fumigated for termites and reopened on October 11. No one seems sure if a fumigation two weeks ago caused the employees to all fall sick on the same day.
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Further testing is being conducted as the courthouse remains closed today. An announcement on whether the courthouse will be reopened on Monday is expected sometime this weekend.
All court hearings will be rescheduled for a later date.
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