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By Dennis Romero
A man died Saturday and 12 people were hospitalized in what authorities in northern California described as an overdose of narcotic fentanyl. Mike O. Brien, police captain in Chico, California, said four of the victims were in critical condition.
"It is certain that additional deaths are possible," he said at a press conference. "I want to emphasize that."
Two police officers who intervened became ill, were treated and were released from a hospital, said O & # 39; Brien.
Chico fire chief Steven Standridge said they were "potentially exposed" The drug, a synthetic opioid often imported from China and Mexico on the black market to be used as a filler in heroin and other street narcotics.
"It was a big incident for us," press conference Saturday night.
O & # 39; Brien said that a home-affiliated person where overdoses took place called 911 around 9am Saturday to report the incident. The responding officers administered six doses of the naloxone opioid antidote to patients while administering CPR, he said.
Chico agents began wearing the antidote last year. "It would certainly have been a lot worse without the response and distribution of naloxone by the Chico police," said O. Brien.
The drug with which fentanyl could have been associated was not clearly defined, but its officers found it when it was combined with heroin.
"All indications are that this mass overdose incident was caused by the ingestion of one form of fentanyl in combination with another substance, although this remains to be confirmed".
It turned out that the victims, who are between 19 and 30 years old, all knew each other, said the police chief.
"The residence where this incident occurred is considered a dangerous site," he said.
The living conditions of non-critical victims are not released and the deceased is not identified. O & # 39; Brien said that a working group on narcotics was trying to determine the source of the drugs.
Fentanyl is "50 to 100 times more potent than morphine," according to the Centers for Disease Control. The drug has been attributed to a wave of overdose deaths across the country.
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