Kids suffer headaches at tournament after CO builds up in Sask arena

A kids’ hockey tournament in Saskatchewan has been cancelled after some players developed headaches and officials suspected they may have been suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Scott Dusyk, the president of the arena board in Montmartre, says the Atom tournament was underway on Saturday when some of the kids complained of headaches.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority confirms that some people from the incident were seen in local hospitals, but a spokesman wasn’t able to disclose how many patients there were or the severity of their symptoms.

SaskEnergy says technicians from the utility responded and noted the gas was present at the ice surface, as well as in the arena’s lobby.

Spokeswoman Casey MacLeod says all of the building’s equipment that runs on natural gas was operating normally, and the technician suspected fumes from the Zamboni were the source for the carbon monoxide.

She says there were a couple of vents in the building that hadn’t been opened due to the extreme cold in the province on Saturday.