Eight members of a youth choir from Paris fell ill during a performance Tuesday night at a Cambridge church and were taken to the hospital for treatment of seizure-like symptoms, officials said.
The children, ages 11 to 13, are members of Chœur d’Enfants d’Île-de-France, which was performing at St. Paul’s Church in Harvard Square as part of a national tour.
During a 6 p.m. performance, several children reported feeling sickened by a smell and had trouble breathing. They also experienced “seizure-like symptoms,” fire officials said in a statement.
Firefighters went to the church on Mount Auburn Street around 7:30 p.m. for a report of a medical emergency, officials said.
A child was sitting on the front steps when firefighters arrived. The child was not having a seizure at that time but the situation “quickly escalated into seven other people having seizure-like symptoms,” Fire Chief Thomas Cahill told WCVB-TV.
The children were taken to area hospitals, he said.
“At this time we are not sure of what caused the reaction,” he said by email.
Roughly 70 others attending the concert were not affected, officials said.
The department’s hazmat team conducted a full sweep of the buildings, including air quality testing, and found no hazardous materials. The buildings were ventilated as a precaution.
Rita Chandler can be reached at rita.chandler@globe.com.