Two people were hospitalized after being exposed to an unidentified powder at Canada Post's sorting centre at Vancouver International Airport Tuesday.
Police, firefighters, paramedics and a hazmat team were all dispatched to the Ferguson Road facility around 2 p.m. after the powder escaped from a broken package on a conveyor belt.
The incident also forced authorities to temporarily evacuate part of the building.
Authorities said 14 people were contaminated by the powder, including two Canada Border Services Agency officers who experienced chest tightness. Both were taken away from the property on stretchers and transported to hospital as a precaution.
The other 12 people didn't show any troubling symptoms, according to firefighters.
The CBSA is handling the investigation into what happened. Though the agency hasn’t determined what the powder is, Richmond firefighters confirmed it's not a biohazard or a narcotic.
Authorities said the package was found in the international side of the sorting centre, but it’s unclear exactly where it came from.
