FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) – Refrigerated gas leaked from a shipping container on a cargo ship at Florida’s Port Everglades on Tuesday, killing three people, authorities said.

The three Florida Transportation Services employees were found unresponsive after emergency workers received a call about the leak in an argon gas container, Broward County sheriff’s officials said.

Argon is a colorless, odorless gas that is not toxic but can cause suffocation in a contained space.

The medical examiner’s office determined the cause of death was chemical asphyxia, sheriff’s officials said.

No one else was affected, authorities said.

The victims were Hayman Sooknanan, 47; James Cason, 43; and Rene Robert Dutertre Jr., 25.

The shipping container is in a secured area of the Fort Lauderdale port. A woman who answered a phone at Florida Transportation Services refused to comment.

AP-ES-05-20-08 1734EDT