Several people were killed and many injured on Saturday after an explosion and fire at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright in Alberta.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said the incident occurred at about 4:00 p.m. at a training area on the base.
“I’m saddened to share that there have been both fatalities and injuries as a result of an incident on the base,” Canadian Defence Minister David McGuinty said.
Mr McGuinty said the Canadian military was still investigating the incident.
“I cannot recall an incident like this in recent memory,” he said.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith described the fire as tragic, adding that it was affecting many military personnel.
“This number of patients would overwhelm the city of Edmonton,” Dr Warren Thirsk, an emergency department physician at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton, told CBC News.
“It is more patients than any of us want to count right now. It’s a disaster. It’s a one in every 15 to 25-year disaster,” he added.
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