Suspicious powder found in Ste. Julie

An employee in a Canada Post branch in Ste. Julie reported the discovery of a pale-coloured suspicious powder, early Tuesday morning.

It was the second such suspicious substance find of the day in the Montreal region, according to The Gazette.

The authorities evacuated people who were working in or only visiting the postal branch, as well as those working at the health-services clinic next door as soon as the discovery was reported.

A spokesperson for the police said that the power was reported to have been found at the bottom of a postal bin.

Two people on the Ste. Julie site who had been in contact with the powder said they were experiencing symptoms such as respiratory or skin irritation.

But the police said that no physical causal link had been established between the powder and the symptoms., and five people were taken to the hospital as part of preventive measures.

Decontamination procedures were invoked in Ste. Julie as part of the official protocol. 

That bin had been shipped to the Ste. Julie Canada Post branch from the sprawling Canada Post mail-sorting centre in St. Laurent, location of the first incident earlier Tuesday.