VOORHEES, N.J. (WPVI) -- At least five ambulances responded to Eastern Regional High School Thursday night after a group of students became ill.
It happened around 9:30 p.m. at the school on the 1400 block of Laurel Oak Road in Voorhees.
Initial reports say at least four students complained of being sick and were transported to Virtua Voorhees Hospital for evaluation.
Earlier, students attended a graduation ceremony.
Action News has learned that hundreds of graduates then headed to a huge party, called Project Graduation, that was held at a nearby Fun Plex.
"It seemed like there was some kind of incident before we were going to the Fun Plex. We were actually on our way there, the buses got turned around, and the police had to pull a couple of people off the buses and that sort of thing," said Andrew Thomas.
"Some EMS guys came on the bus and said there was some stuff going on and said 'if you know anything about it come off the bus,'" said Joseph Hodges.
The Fun Plex Chief Operating Officer, Gray Foley, says he got word from the school that the buses would be delayed.
He confirms none of the students got sick while at the event, but says some were sick on arrival.
"Some students did arrive here and started to become sick or were sick on arrival. One was transported and four others were released to their parents," Foley said. "The Project Graduation went on until 2 a.m. and it was success and students had a good time."
Fun Plex says Project Graduation is annual event held at its facility to give students a safe, drug and alcohol-free to place hang out after they graduate.
Workers admit they were disappointed by the negative attention surrounding the event. Employees say they are not aware of what caused the illness but say some of the students complained of being nauseous and were treated right away.
"I don't believe this was an incident with Eastern High School and their responsibility and it was not Fun Plex's, it was something else outside of that," said Foley.
The district's superintendent has not returned our calls and police will only confirm they responded to the scene for sick kids.
At this point, it is not clear what the kids ingested or came into contact with that caused the illness. It is also not clear what type of symptoms they were displaying or the extent of the injuries.
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