According to a report, the Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway was evacuated for a period of time on

Saturday, December 18.

An article on lohud.com explains that a strong gas odour forced the evacuation at roughly 3:00 p.m.

"It wasn't straight gas, it was like a burning gas, and it was really strong," Rick Thomas, who was handicapping races at the time, was quoted as saying. "I was like, 'this can't be good.'"

The report explains that after a mass evacuation of the building, patrons were able to go back into the facility roughly one hour later.

The article did not give an explanation as to what caused the gas odour.

(With files from lohud.com)