Eight to ten people were admitted on Saturday in several St. Louis hospitals, after being exposed to a chemical compound at an industrial site in East St. Louis, Illinois.

Two of the ERs, St. Anthony's Hospital and SSM DePaul Health Center were placed on lockdown after patients arrived complaining of various symptoms from the chemical poisoning. Another plant worker reportedly sought medical treatment at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis and the faith of another is still unknown.

More recent news say officials admitted two of the exposed patients are already dead. City Manager Robert Betts confirmed the two deaths, but did not give details, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. The report was, however, not confirmed by the hospitals.

Authorities claim to be "99 percent" certain the chemical responsible for this situation is nitroaniline, a highly toxic material that can cause serious breathing problems and even death. The incident that exposed the patients took place at Ro-Corp. in East St. Louis where a barrel was dropped, spilling the highly toxic white powdery chemical.

After ER lockdown and isolation of about 20 patients and staff members who came in close contact with the workers, St. Anthony's Medical Center in St. Louis was reopened Saturday night, while DePaul Health Center in Bridgeton was expected to be closed until midnight.

The situation still remains unclear, as hospitals failed to give a conclusive report regarding the state of the patients and as office members of the St. Louis plant where the incident took place are nowhere to be found.