Fri, January 3, 2003

[url=cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2003/01/03/8769-cp.html]Edmonton police say anthrax found in CFC-bound package at postal outlet[/url]

(CP) - About 150 postal workers were quarantined early Friday morning after letters addressed to Canada's firearms registry and suspected of being contaminated by anthrax were found at an Edmonton postal outlet.

Initially, Edmonton police Sgt. Patrick Tracy said tests had confirmed the letters were tainted by the deadly biological weapon. But Karen Carlson, a spokeswoman for the Edmonton fire department, later explained that about 10 tests had been done and only one had shown positive, with the rest showing negative. "We're still in the process of testing it further," Carlson said.

"It might be looking at this point that it was a false-positive. What will happen now is we will complete the testing process here and then send the sample to a lab where it can be further tested."

Carlson said workers at the sorting facility noticed dust rising into the air after a few envelopes had gone through the sorter.

"That alarmed them definitely as something they don't see every day," she said. "Emergency crews were called in as soon as the employees noticed that."

Tracy said a couple of workers who had actually handled the suspicious envelopes were taken to hospital as a precaution, but they did not appear to be suffering any ill effects.

Carlson said another 150 workers were kept inside the building, while a large crowd who had just shown up for a shift change were kept outside.

"Other than our emergency response crews, nobody else is allowed inside and the people inside are not allowed out," Carlson said.

"That's just a precautionary measure. We just want to make sure we are 100 per cent sure about the results of the test."

1 out of 10 negative...hmmm, maybe they are jumping to conclusions. In any case, it is good to see that they are treating it as a possibility, and not just blowing it off.

forced to fight back, and fight back they will

"This ain't no party, this ain't no disco
this ain't no fooling around."

"one mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter."


damn who originally said that?

I hate it when I am on the same side of an issue as someone who does something stupid and fucked up. Why scare the hell out of the postal workers and their families cuz your angry with your government? Filling out the form in excrement, now that I can understand. But Anthrax, or a hoax?
Wait a minute, my tinfoil hat is getting a call. What? The Canadian Government pulled this Anthrax hoax just to prove to the Canadian citizens that gun owners are evil and all guns should be confiscated?

I agree.