Pesticide blamed in 8-month-old's death in Fort McMurray

The pesticidethat killed aneight-month-old girl and sent four other children to hospital in critical condition was broughtto Canada illegally from Pakistan to rid the family's Fort McMurray apartment of bedbugs, saysthe children's aunt.

The mother hadplaced phosphine tablets around lastTuesday, withthe children beginning toshowsigns of illness Saturday afternoon, said Shazia Yarkhan.

The parents took thechildrento hospital Sunday.

Phosphine, a controlled substance in Canada normally used as apesticide, was found in an unmarked container in the home,said BradGrainger, deputychief ofregionalemergency services.

It had been brought into the country illegally.

Phosphinewas blamed in the mysterious deathsof two Quebec sisters travelling in Thailand as well as several other tourists in 2012.

Two boys, aged two and six years old, were taken to Stollery Childrens Hospital in Edmonton. Two others, aged four and seven, remain in a Fort McMurray hospital. All are in critical condition.

Yarkhan said Monday the childrenin FortMcMurrayare doing OK, but theboys in Edmontonare gettingworse.

The mother is also under observation in the FortMcMurrayhospital.

The pesticide acts on the nervous system in a manner similar to sarin, an outlawed chemical weapon, said James Kehrer, a pharmacy professor at the University of Alberta.

"Children tend to be more vulnerable to agents like this," he said. "They have a higher metabolic rate, their nerves fire in a little different way, and they don't have necessarily as good a way to eliminate the chemical from the body once it gets in."

Phosphine gas is alsoheavier than air so stays nearer the floor where children are likely to play, Graingersaid.

It should be used only in well-ventilated areas, he said.

"It's not designed to sit in a house or a bedroom where we had found the chemical."

Cpl. George Cameron said the RCMP are treating the situation as a sudden death.

"Like any investigation that we have, we begin by ruling things out," he said. "And when I say that, we dont believe at this time that this was an intentional incident, if you will, but we have to determine the exact cause of the death of this infant, why it happened, could it have been prevented."

The pesticide use appeared to have been isolated to the one apartment, hesaid.

The RCMP are not releasing the names of the children at the request of family members.

Neighbours on other floors not informed of death

The fire department received a call about a possible chemical threat in the Fraser Avenue apartment building on Sunday afternoon. The main floor of the building was evacuated around 3 p.m. local time.

All other building tenants were allowed to return home around 6:30 p.m. Sunday after air-quality testing determined it was safe.

Meanwhile, some residents who live elsewhere in the building are upset that they were not evacuated from the building.

Eamon Smithers lives with his family on the buildings fourth floor. He said he hasnt heard anything from either the buildings manager or the RCMP about the death.

"We have a 16-month-old little girl here, and when it comes to toxic situations or chemical spills, I know that anyone can be in danger within the outlying area," he said.

"I know they did an air quality test yesterday and they cleared the building as safe but the thing is we were not informed of it at all, which kind of baffles me and disturbs me."