A Port Alberni woman is in hospital in Victoria tonight and her family is shaken and wondering why they have been targeted after an incendiary device exploded at their Stuart Avenue home.
Port Alberni RCMP were called to the rural residence just after 9 a.m. after receiving a report about an incendiary device that had detonated.
“Preliminary investigation indicates that the injured woman located a package in the driveway of the home and brought it inside,” RCMP Inspector Mac Richards said. “While moving the package, an explosion occurred.”
The package was filled with plastic shopping bags and yet-to-be-determined contents, Richards said.
“The origin of this package and how or why it came to be at this home remain under investigation at this time,” he said.
The woman's husband, who did not want to be identified, said his wife was airlifted to Victoria. “She's going to have hand problems,” he said. The husband and his father-in-law were treated at West Coast General Hospital and released.
He did not want to speak with the media any further about what happened.
Three members of the RCMP's Emergency Disposal Unit arrived on the scene around 4 p.m. to speak with family members and survey the scene, which had been cordoned off for several hours.
Richards said this is the first time in the three years he has been in Port Alberni that he has had to deal with an incendiary device. “It's not a common occurrence.”
Anyone who locates a suspicious item of unknown origin is urged not to disturb it and to contact police for assistance, he said.
Anyone with information on this incident is asked to contact the Port Alberni RCMP at 250-723-2424 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or online at avcrimestoppers.ca.
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