MONTREAL (CP) -- A tiny package caused a big scare at Montreal's main airport late Tuesday, scrambling emergency crews and sending one man to hospital.
Four people complained of feeling ill from a nauseating smell from the tiny package about the size of a ring box and containing an unidentified white powder when it passed through customs.
One man was later taken to hospital as a preventive measure because he suffered from a heart condition.
''There was no link with the substance that was found,'' said Eric Berry, a spokesman for Urgences sante, the citywide ambulance service. He suggested stress from the incident may have been a factor.
''The symptoms they had are throat irritations, with headaches and difficulty breathing,'' Berry said of the affected people. ''These are minor, minor symptoms. They are not life-threatening.''
Police had originally said four people had to be taken to hospital as a precaution but later said decontamination was the only treatment required as a result of exposure to the powder.
The decontamination process involves the person being hosed with water.
Eleven people were in the customs area of Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport where the powder spilled into the open, said Montreal police Const. Miguel Alston.
The package arrived earlier in the day from London on a British Airways flight, Alston said.
''When it arrived at Canadian customs, an employee opened the package and saw the substance inside,'' Alston said. When the employee reported feeling ill, emergency crews were called.
The owner of the package wasn't with it and police are not sure if the owner was on the flight.
''It was among all the packages that were going through customs,'' said Alston.
Firefighters in gas masks set up a decontamination area outside where the four people were hosed down.
The four, who had to take off their clothes for the procedure, were wrapped in blankets and led one by one to the decontamination area, which consisted of several firefighters holding up plastic sheets to form an enclosure where the people were hosed off in the cold night air.
The eleven people worked in various government agencies such as Border Services and Agriculture Canada.
Police and firefighters sealed off the immediate area to determine what the powder was. All other operations at the airport continued and no flights were cancelled or delayed.
Firefighters in coveralls and masks were seen wheeling a large bag containing a white substance away on a luggage cart.
An investigation is continuing.
''First of all, we want to put an ID on the owner of this package. We don't have the owner right now.''
Alston said the RCMP is not involved in the investigation but the Canadian Security Intelligence Service will be advised of the incident.
The substance was sent to a provincial public health laboratory for analysis.
Federal officials in Ottawa were either not aware of the incident or had no additional details.
