FEBRUARY 23, 2015
FORT MCMURRAY, ALBERTA, CANADA
An eight-month-old has died after the baby and the mother,
as well as four other children in a Fort McMurray, Alta., apartment building,
were exposed to a substance on Sunday that RCMP have determined is a type of
fumigant.
Two children, two and six years old, were taken to
the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton. Two others, aged four
and seven, remain in a Fort McMurray hospital. RCMP have confirmed
they are in critical condition.
The mother of the eight-month-old is under observation in the
Fort McMurray hospital.
The fire department received a call about the possible spill
in the Fraser Avenue apartment building in the afternoon.
One floor of the building was evacuated around 3 p.m. local
time, and the children were taken to hospital.
The RCMP is not releasing the names of the children at
the request of family members.
Cpl. George Cameron said the RCMP is still investigating,
but is treating the situation as a sudden death.
“Like any investigation that we have, we begin by ruling
things out,” he said. “And when I say that, we don’t believe at this time that
this was an intentional incident, if you will, but we have to determine the
exact cause of the death of this infant, why it happened, could it have been
prevented.”
Cameron said police won't speculate on the exact nature of
the substance or where it came from, but, “It appears the occupants were
using some kind of fumigant."
The fumigant appeared to have been isolated to the one
apartment, police said.
“We’re hoping that sooner rather than later we’ll be able to
positively identify the substance, or the fumigant, if you will, that was used
in the apartment.”
All other building tenants were allowed to return home
around 6:30 p.m. Sunday after air-quality testing determined it was safe.