KTLA

Food poisoning sickens Coachella shuttle bus drivers

Bicycles are parked at the Safari campground shuttle stop during Day 3 of the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Club on April 17, 2011, in Indio, California. (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

At least 24 shuttle bus drivers for the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival became ill with food poisoning early Monday, authorities said.

Reports began coming in shortly after midnight after subcontracted drivers dined at an off-site catering location unaffiliated with the festival, the Cal Fire / Riverside County Fire Department said in a press release.


The drivers’ chief complaint was nausea and vomiting, it said.

Some two dozen were taken to hospitals throughout the Coachella Valley.

“This incident did not affect any of the guests attending the festival,” Division Chief Bryan White, the incident commander.

County fire managed the incident in conjunction with Indio police and Goldenvoice Productions, promoter of the festival that ended Sunday.