Patrons at the Walt Whitman Mall in Huntington, Long Island, were in for the shock of their lives over the weekend when they were evacuated from the mall after a release of noxious gas killed one person and hospitalized several others.

The upscale mall on Long Island is usually not the place for such an event to happen, but according to News 12 Long Island, that's exactly what happened at the Legal Sea Foods restaurant when a faulty pipe released carbon monoxide into the air, killing the restaurant's general manager, Steve Nelson. According to a statement released by Legal Sea Foods, Nelson was in the basement of the restaurant when he was "overcome" by the fumes. Nelson also had gone into the bathroom and locked the door, making it difficult for people to find him.

Ultimately, according to ABC News, it was a leak in a faulty flue pipe that caused the tragedy. In addition to Nelson losing his life, more than 2 dozen people were hospitalized due to complications caused by the carbon monoxide fumes.

The restaurant was inspected around this time last year for carbon monoxide, and it passed muster by the county.

It was scheduled for another inspection next month.

And, according to Suffolk County Police Lt. Jack Fitzpatrick, all of the people affected by the carbon monoxide were either restaurant employees, emergency response personnel, or police officers."Right now, we are inspecting the heating system, and this incident seems to be confined to the basement area," Fitzpatrick said. "It does not appear to have made it in the area of the restaurant where the customers were."

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas that is slightly less dense than air. It is toxic to humans and animals when encountered in higher concentrations, although it is also produced in normal animal metabolism in low quantities, and is thought to have some normal biological functions. In the atmosphere, it is spatially variable and short lived, having a role in the formation of ground-level ozone.