Nanaimo RCMP blocked off an area of Discontent City after explosive materials were found on friday.
Materials that prompted a partial evacuation of Nanaimo’s Discontent City Friday were found to be parts from commercial fireworks.
RCMP say a tent city resident discovered the parts in a ziplock baggie in the camp just before 4 p.m.. They placed them in a sharps container and carried the items to a fence inside the encampment across the street from Port Place Shopping Centre before contacting police.
The incident required the RCMP’s bomb disposal unit to come from Vancouver. Officers say the items were not put together in a way to classify them as an improvised explosive device.
The incident is still under investigation and no charges have been announced, Nanaimo RCMP say the person responsible looks to have not had the intent to harm anyone.
“We don’t think [there is a threat to the public]… the investigation is still continuing,” said Nanaimo RCMP media spokesman Const. Gary O’Brien.
Officers cordoned off roughly a 100-metre radius while they waited for the special unit Friday afternoon. The unit arrived just before 10 p.m. and removed and disposed of it one hour later.
The person responsible was a man who is a resident of the tent city. Officers add that the person who found the package may have made it more dangerous by putting it in a container, but are glad no one was hurt.
Some of the occupants evacuated were sent to the Nanaimo Salvation Army New Hope Centre, and were allowed back into the camp around midnight. Thirty to 40 residents were evacuated in total, around 10 per cent of the campers, but few chose to head to the centre.
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