Facebook Evacuated Four Offices In San Francisco Due To Possible Sarin Exposure
A package was received which contained the toxic compound.
Four buildings of the Facebook Inc in San Francisco were evacuated on Monday. Two people are being tested for possible exposure to the nerve agent Sarin. The toxic compound was present in a package received in the Facebook Silicon Valley Mail Facility. The package was tested to be positive for the presence of the toxic compound.
The people who came in contact with the suspicious package at about 11 a.m. did not show any symptoms of exposure to Sarin, said Jon Johnson, fire Marshall for the city of Menlo Park, where Facebook is based.
“The (Facebook) facility tests all of the packages that come in and they had a positive test, so they just initiated their standard protocol. Now we’re just waiting to verify whether that’s true or not,” he said to a source.
Facebook spokesman Anthony Harrison said to firstpost.com that the company evacuated four buildings following the positive test and was cooperating with police in the investigation.
“Authorities have not yet identified the substance found. As of now, three of the evacuated buildings have been cleared for re-population,” Harrison said.
A spokesman of the Agency said that San Francisco office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation has agents responding to the scene.
Sarin, is an extremely toxic synthetic compound. It is used as a chemical weapon due to its extreme potency as a nerve agent. Sarin attacks the nervous system by interfering with the degradation of the neurotransmitter at neuromuscular junctions. Death will usually occur as a result of asphyxia due to the inability to control the muscles involved in breathing.
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