The fallout from the train derailment and subsequent chemical spill and burn in Ohio continues, with new reports indicating that people who live near the East Palestine, Ohio crash site are starting to get sick.
As NBC News reports, both workers and residents near the eastern Ohio site of the Norfolk Southern crash have been diagnosed with bronchitis and other ailments that their doctors and nurses believe could be linked to the catastrophic derailment.
In interviews with NBC, East Palestine resident Melissa Blake described the terrifying breathing issues she developed just days after the crash that occurred within a mile of her home. Eventually, she was diagnosed with "acute bronchitis due to chemical fumes," according to medical records the news outlet viewed.
"They gave me a breathing machine," Blake, who hasn't moved back home since being discharged three weeks ago, told NBC. "They put me on oxygen. They gave me three types of steroids."
She's not alone, either — half of the 10-person staff at CeremFab, a manufacturing firm located next to the crash site, is reportedly still out sick after the crash, NBC noted.
While it appears the people who spoke to NBC got sick from the actual crash and not its aftermath, there are still significant concerns that it may still be unsafe to breathe the air or drink the water in the area surrounding the derailment — even though authorities began urging residents that it's safe to go home just a few days after the disaster.
In some ways, the official response has seemed muddled. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to insist that it's safe for residents to be in their homes near the crash site — but, as NPR noted over the weekend, asked for a pause on the shipping of the toxic waste from the site, for some reason.
As of now, the open-ended question remains whether it's genuinely safe for residents of East Palestine and the surrounding area to be home — or if we have another Flint on our hands.
More on the East Palestine disaster: Wait, Did Officials Just Pretend to Drink the Tap Water in East Palestine?
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