A machine at a Facebook facility in Menlo Park, California, alerted employees to a package that might contain sarin, it was reported.
The Menlo Park Fire District said that no Facebook employees were exposed to sarin, CNBC reported.
BREAKING Two workers ‘exposed to deadly sarin’ at Facebook headquarters https://t.co/d5AWrFvran pic.twitter.com/h4IS7aL8Lk
— Mirror Breaking News (@MirrorBreaking_) July 1, 2019
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that sarin as a “human-made chemical warfare agent classified as a nerve agent.”
“Nerve agents are the most toxic and rapidly acting of the known chemical warfare agents. They are similar to certain kinds of insecticides (insect killers) called organophosphates in terms of how they work and what kind of harmful effects they cause. However, nerve agents are much more potent than organophosphate pesticides,” the agency says.
HAZMAT SITUATION AT FACEBOOK: Authorities are responding to a hazmat situation near Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, CA. A machine at the company’s mail facility detected the possible presence of sarin gas, local news outlets report. https://t.co/WQhr6Y7kh7
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) July 1, 2019
Menlo Park Fire officials say machine at Facebook mail facility alerted staff on site that an incoming mail package might contain sarin. The employees were reportedly not exposed to the substance, which has not been confirmed to be sarin. https://t.co/9btUp9qCNM pic.twitter.com/JljKttuWW5
— Boing Boing (@BoingBoing) July 1, 2019
According to SFGate, at least two people at the mailing facility might have been exposed to the substance.
A HAZMAT crew is now on the scene and investigating.
Facebook HQ evacuates due to possible sarin in package https://t.co/DI3aX6bNRY pic.twitter.com/dCs7vEYa0N
— SFGate (@SFGate) July 1, 2019
ABC7 reported that this has happened previously at Facebook. That sarin alarm turned out to be false.
