Two Vancouver Island residents injured by explosive device left in driveway

PORT ALBERNI, B.C. – Mounties say a package containing unknown contents has exploded on central Vancouver Island, injuring a man and a woman.

Port Alberni RCMP Insp. Mac Richards says the woman located the package in the driveway of the rural home on Friday morning.

He say she brought the package inside the home, where it exploded.

Richards says the man and woman were treated in hospital but one of the patients has been transferred to Victoria.

Other than plastic shopping bags, the contents of the package and its origin remain under investigation, and Richards says the home has been cordoned off.

He says the RCMP’s explosives-disposal unit is on scene and is assisting with the investigation.

“I’m not sure what it is,” he says.

“There’s obviously some kind of chemical reaction but, you know, the intent or how or why — that I don’t know.”