Thread: 2 hospitalized after envelope found during visit by Fox

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/world/3376030

Sept. 29, 2005, 10:14PM



2 hospitalized after envelope found during visit by Fox
Associated Press

TORONTO - Hours before Mexico President Vicente Fox's visit to the University of Calgary on Thursday, police and fire officials cordoned off the campus biosciences center after a suspicious envelope was opened.

Two people were taken to the hospital and 11 people were treated on the scene with throat irritations after the mysterious envelope was found, Calgary police said.

Fox stopped in Calgary, the capital of the oil-rich western province of Alberta, for a two-day visit, where he stressed the importance of expanding energy ties and pledged to stand by the democratic reforms made under his leadership.

Officials said Fox was not on campus during the incident, and police would not speculate on whether the package had anything to do with his visit.

www.edmontonsun.com

Mystery powder sparks evacuation
U of C lab cleared as Mexico's prez visits

By SUN MEDIA
CALGARY -- On the same day that Mexican president Vicente Fox visited the campus, more than 600 people were evacuated from the University of Calgary's Bio Sciences building when staff found two envelopes containing a suspicious-looking powder.

The powder turned out to be harmless.

Fire, EMS, and police personnel cordoned off the facility at about 11:30 a.m. yesterday after a male professor opened one of the letters and subsequently complained of feeling sick, said fire department spokesman John Conley.

The man, reportedly in his 50s, and a woman in her mid-20s who was also complaining of nausea, were taken to hospital as a precaution.

The fire department's hazardous materials team also decontaminated 11 people who'd been in the area where the letter was opened, Conley said, adding both envelopes were examined and found to present no danger to the public.

"Following examination, it has been determined (the powder) was not a dangerous material," Conley said.

While his staff was advised of the situation, Fox proceeded as planned, said U of C spokesman Grady Semmens.

"He was here for a meeting with the university president, Harvey Weingarten, and then gave a speech to a group of students," Semmens said.

Earlier in the day, Fox told leaders in the energy industry that after a decade with the North American Free Trade Agreement, he would like to see a similar pact made for energy.

"NAFTA has been very successful for us," he said.

"We want to further extend this investment not only in trade but to have a NAFTA policy in energy, a NAFTA security policy, NAFTA markets in financing policies."