The pool at a hotel in Chester has been shut down after claims that several children became sick following a party.

On January 15, more than a dozen kids attended a pool party at the Holiday Inn Express on Brookside Avenue. Parents say after the party their kids became seriously ill. The Orange County Health Department looked into the situation after reading an article in the Times Herald Record.

The health department tested the water and found that there were excessively high levels of bromine, which is used like chlorine to prevent bacteria. Health department officials say there is no definitive reason to believe that was the specific cause of the kids' symptoms even though the chemical can cause people to become ill.

The Holiday Inn Express had no comment. But the health department tested the hotel pool water on January 12, just three days prior to the party, and found the bromine level safe.