3 workers die from argon gas leak at port

? A leak of refrigerated gas killed three people Tuesday on a cargo ship, including a supervisor investigating reports that workers were dizzy and two employees who tried to save him, authorities in Fort Lauderdale said Tuesday.

The victims were found unconscious in the hull of the ship, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office said. The cause of death was chemical asphyxia due to inhaling argon gas, which had been leaking from a container the workers were loading.

Argon is colorless, odorless and nontoxic, but it can cause suffocation in a contained space.