Suspicious package on Parliament Hill

Posted By: Canadian Press · 2/15/2013 5:24:00 PM

UPDATED: Package found to be harmless at around 5:15 p.m. RCMP operation now over on Parliament Hill.

 

Hazardous-material crews are on Parliament Hill investigating a suspicious package.

RCMP spokeswoman Cpl. Lucy Shorey says the Mounties were called in shortly before 3 p.m. ET after a package was left outside the Centre Block.

Paramedics are also on the scene.

Shorey says six people who came into contact with the package - a mix of Parliament Hill security guards and RCMP officers - have been isolated as a precautionary measure, but all are fine.

"They're all being monitored, they're all fine at this time,'' Shorey said.

Police have secured the area around Centre Block, including the base of the Peace Tower, and blocked access to the building, which is also home to the House of Commons and MPs' offices.

The incident follows another package left this week in a downtown Ottawa building housing the offices of the Public Safety Department, just five blocks from Parliament Hill.

A fire department hazardous materials team secured that package from earlier this week and determined its contents were non-hazardous.

The Centre Block was briefly evacuated last spring after security guards spotted a suspicious truck parked behind the building. The RCMP's bomb squad was called in, and gave the all-clear a short time later.

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