NYC daycare: One-year-old dies, three hospitalised after possible fentanyl consumption

One child died in the Bronx in New York City on Friday (September 15) and three others were hospitalised after an incident at a daycare centre, media reports said.

Local reports said that a two-year-old boy is in serious condition, while another two-year-old boy and an eight-month-old girl are stable.

The New York Post reported that the kids possibly consumed fentanyl, but so far, there's no official confirmation by the authorities.

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According to reports, police claimed they discovered equipment commonly used in the manufacture of illegal substances in the daycare.

Police also said they were looking into the likelihood that both the kids who died and the ones who were hospitalised had been exposed to an opiate of some kind over time.

Reports said that a 911 call came on Friday afternoon at around 2:45pm (local time) for four unresponsive children at Divino Niño Daycare.

Joseph Kenny, the New York police department's chief of detectives, said in a news conference: "This is an item that is commonly used by drug dealers when packaging large quantities of drugs."

Dr Ashwin Vasan, who is the city's health commissioner, said authorities believed the children had somehow come in contact "with a powerful substance which can intoxicate the recipient".

Edward Caban, the police commissioner, said, "We don't know exactly what happened to those babies."

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At the scene, the one-year-old boy was pronounced dead. The two two-year-old boys and the infant girl are still being treated at local hospitals.

A witness told CBS New York that they heard employees of the daycareyelling and spotted "unresponsive" toddlers on a mat inside the nursery.

The witness said that a worker was yelling, "They're dying, they're dying," as an employee was carrying a child outside.

The circumstances surrounding the incident are currently being investigated by police.

(With inputs from agencies)

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