Baby dead, 4 children in hospital, after substance spill in Alberta apartment

FORT MCMURRAY, Alta. – One of five children taken to hospital after they were exposed to some type of fumigant in a northern Alberta apartment block has died.

RCMP say the victim is an eight-month-old baby who was taken for treatment Sunday afternoon after the entire first floor of the four-storey block in downtown Fort McMurray was evacuated following word of a substance spill.

Four of the baby's siblings were in hospital in critical condition, Cpl. George Cameron said Monday. A two- and a six-year-old were in Stollery Children's Hospital in Edmonton, while a four- and a six-year-old were in hospital in Fort McMurray.

The children's mother was also in hospital under observation. The father was with the two children in Edmonton.

No names were released at the request of the family.

Cameron said tests were continuing on the substance.

"Investigators are trying to determine the exact substance … and that information would obviously be passed on to medical folks, so that they can determine the best course of action as far as treatment goes for the other kids," he said.

Tenants who were forced from the block were allowed back into their suites early Sunday evening after air-quality tests indicated there was no danger.