Disneyland Defends Handling of Illness : Aftermath: Several affected by incident on Pirates of Caribbean attraction say their symptoms persist.

A Disneyland spokesman on Monday defended the amusement park’s handling of a still unexplained mass sickness that affected about 30 people on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride Saturday night.

Meanwhile, some of the people who became ill said Monday that they are still experiencing health problems from the incident at the park and are worried about what chemical they were exposed to. “In some ways I’m worse,” said Sandra Skabelund, 24, from her home in Mesa, Ariz. “My face feels like it is on fire.”

Skabelund was among six people who were treated Saturday night at Western Medical Center-Anaheim. She and others were told by hospital doctors that the skin and breathing problems were probably caused by “a gas-like Mace.” Mace is a tear-gas-like aerosol chemical used to stun attackers.

Disney officials said Monday that the cause of the malady was still unknown. “It could have been something like hair spray or strong perfume or it could have been a pocket Mace like some people carry for protection,” said Disneyland spokesman Greg Albrecht. “We don’t know.”

Albrecht denied charges by some of those who became sick that park personnel did not respond adequately once breathing problems began inside the water-fantasy ride. Some riders said their boats were stalled for two to five minutes after something in the air caused skin and breathing problems, while park employees passed by holding handkerchiefs over their mouths.

But Albrecht said there is always a two-minute delay as the boat ride ends and boats are hooked up for the uphill ascent that leads to the exit area.

“That two-minute delay is built in,” he said. He added that Disneyland workers responded “immediately” upon learning that something had caused coughing problems among boat passengers.

Pirates of the Caribbean is a boat ride inside decorated tunnels. At 8:20 p.m. Saturday, mass coughing and breathing problems occurred among passengers on boats near the end of the ride. Passengers also said they experienced nausea and skin irritation.

Disneyland officials said that about 30 of the riders were treated at the amusement park’s first-aid station. The park offered hospital care, at its expense, to any of those who thought they needed more than first aid. Six people accepted the offer and went to Western Medical Center.

Four of those who asked for hospital treatment were Karen and Chris Hughes, their son, Patrick, 11, and Patrick’s friend, Clayton Pence, also 11. All are from Valley Center in San Diego County.

In a telephone interview on Monday, Karen Hughes said: “Patrick didn’t go to school today, and we’re taking him to a doctor here (Monday) afternoon. Patrick and Clayton are both still red (in skin color). I’ve had a headache, dry throat and uncomfortable feeling in my chest. I talked to our doctor here, and he said that something like Mace can cause a deadening of the nerves and facial numbness.

“We’re really worried. We want to hear from Disneyland and find out for sure what we have been gassed with,” she said. “We also don’t know what to do with our clothes we wore that night. The doctors (in Anaheim) told us to put the clothes in bags and not touch them until they were clean. But we have some things that must be dry-cleaned, and I don’t want to send off contaminated clothes that might injure a dry-cleaning employee. We haven’t found anyone who can tell us what to do with the clothes.”

Skabelund similarly said in the phone interview from Mesa that she remains worried about the Saturday night incident. “I have a tightness in my lungs; I’m coughing up mucus, and my face and eyes are still irritated,” she said.

Her mother-in-law, Karen Skabelund, 48, also of Mesa, said in a separate phone interview that she was feeling somewhat better Monday but still had symptoms. “My lungs are burning, but it gets better as the day goes on,” she said.

Lori Bottomley, 29, of San Bernardino was with her mother, Karen Skabelund, and sister-in-law, Sandra Skabelund, on the pirates ride Saturday night. She said Monday that she still felt aftereffects. “My throat is still a little dry, and I’m a little reddish on my skin,” she said. “The thing that upsets me is that Disneyland is not giving us information. We need to know what to do about our condition.”

Albrecht, the Disneyland spokesman, said the amusement park has been unable to pinpoint the cause of the ailment. “But one thing we are sure of is that whatever caused it came from outside--that it was not something in the ride or in the water,” he said.

Albrecht said the Anaheim Fire Department’s hazardous materials team was not called to the scene Saturday night “because it was all over in a few minutes.” He said that when park workers combed the ride immediately after the incident, they found nothing. “It was all gone within minutes,” Albrecht said. He added that the attraction was reopened about an hour later.