3 Dead, 5 Sickened After Eating Thanksgiving Dinner at a Church

Thanksgiving is supposed to be the best meal of the year, but for a Northern California church dinner, it turned out to be the deadliest.

Three people died and five became sick after eating dinner Thursday at the American Legion Hall in Antioch, according to Contra Costa County.

The attendees consisted of 800 homeless or elderly people who came to the annual event where local restaurants, volunteers and various facilities helped cater and provide food. The Golden Hills Community Church helped host the event.

All of the eight victims live in the same assisted living facility.

Dr. Marilyn Underwood with Contra Costa Health Services said at a press conference on Monday, “They could have gotten sick from food they prepared at their living facility rather than the Thanksgiving event. So at this point, we are not calling this a foodborne disease outbreak.”

Contra Costa Co. Deputy Health Officer Dr. Louise McNitt said an investigation is underway to determine who got sick, where and how.

“We’re interviewing people that we know are ill. And we’re also trying to find people who had some symptoms and maybe didn’t seek any healthcare. So we’re trying to get the word out to people who attended that to let us know if they were ill,” McNitt said.

This article originally appeared on Womanista.com