Baltimore authorities say at least 27 people were taken to area hospitals after a wave of suspected drug overdoses swept through the Penn North neighbourhood on Thursday morning. Police, firefighters and medics responded around 9:20 a.m. to reports of unconscious individuals near the busy intersection of Pennsylvania and North avenues and quickly declared a level-one mass-casualty incident as additional victims were found along nearby streets, alleys and subway platforms. Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace told reporters that seven patients remained in critical condition and 15 others in serious but not life-threatening condition as of Friday morning. No deaths have been reported. The drug involved has not been identified, and investigators are treating the area as an active crime scene while they analyse samples and review surveillance footage to determine the source of what officials described as a possible “bad batch” of street narcotics. Mayor Brandon Scott said the city’s immediate priority is “keeping people alive.” Harm-reduction teams from the health department and community groups fanned out across West Baltimore, distributing naloxone, fentanyl test strips and safe-use kits while urging residents not to use drugs alone and to seek medical help under Maryland’s Good Samaritan law. Authorities also asked the public to avoid the affected blocks while the inquiry continues. The mass overdose occurred a day after the City Council opened hearings on Baltimore’s drug crisis. The city, which won more than $668 million last year from pharmaceutical companies over the opioid epidemic, has drafted a plan to cut overdose deaths 40% by 2040. Thursday’s incident, officials said, underscores the urgency of expanding treatment access and street-level outreach in neighbourhoods hit hardest by the illicit drug trade.