Walgreens store closed after multiple employees fall ill due to unknown cause

By Ed DiOrio

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    ARDEN, North Carolina (WLOS) — Walgreens in Arden was closed Thursday evening into Friday, Aug. 4, for the remainder of the day after an unknown reason caused multiple employees to go home sick.

Asheville Fire Department was called to the store, located at the corner of Hendersonville Road and Airport Road, Thursday evening, Aug. 3, for a suspected gas leak. While nothing was detected, the store was closed out of precaution.

Late Friday morning, the department was called again after several employees went home not feeling well. Officials said once again, nothing was detected.

Jeremy Knighton, division chief of emergency management with the Asheville Fire Department, said they’re bringing in more agencies to assist in solving the problem.

“We’re expanding our circle of partners. We want to coordinate with everybody that may have any kind of stake or anything that may be beyond our investigation today,” Knighton said. “Those things are getting ready to happen now. Once those are complete, we’ll turn things back over to the store and their management.”

Knighton said as of now, there is no timeframe as to when Walgreens will reopen.

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