More News:

December 05, 2016

6 people die from heroin overdoses in Philadelphia as police investigate cause

Drugs Police
Philly police Thom Carroll//PhillyVoice

A Philadelphia police cruiser.

Police are attempting to track down a potentially bad batch of heroin that killed six people and hospitalized several others Sunday in Philadelphia.

The department's East Division is investigating the drug overdoses, which occurred mostly in Kensington and North Philadelphia. Five of the six fatal overdoses happened in Kensington.

According to 6ABC, five of the victims were men between the ages of 24 and 49. A woman in her 30s also died.

Authorities have been trying to identify the brand of heroin that is causing an increase in overdoses for at least a month. In November, nearly 50 people overdosed on the drug in the same neighborhoods. No deaths were reported during that rash of incidents.

Police said lab tests were being conducted on the drugs to single out the cause of the problem. However, the batch has not yet been determined.

Videos