Victoria police shut down the 500-block of Yates Street for hours Wednesday and a bomb squad was called in as officers investigated a suspicious package left in a parkade.
The block was cordoned off and a police robot and armoured vehicle could be seen just outside of the Bastion Square parkade just before noon on Wednesday.
Hours later around 5:45 p.m., a bomb squad arrived at the scene, deploying a specialized robot.
At 6:45 p.m., CTV’s Robert Buffam reported hearing a major explosion in the parking lot as police detonated the package.
The incident was wrapped up and Yates Street was finally reopened to traffic at 8 p.m.
Loud explosion noise at Yate Street Parkade as police detonated suspicious package. No evidence of harm or damage.
— Robert Buffam (@CTVNewsRob) May 4, 2017
Victoria police then confirmed on Twitter they had used two controlled blasts to "reduce any potential threat" in the incident.
Police have released few details about the nature of the package left in the parkade.
"In these situations we bring every resource that we could need down and we make sure that it's on site to make sure that we're able to work as quickly as we can to make things as safe as possible as quick as possible," said Bowen Osoko, the acting spokesperson for VicPD.
Businesses across from the parkade were evacuated as a safety precaution.
People with vehicles parked in the parkade were asked to wait for hours as the situation was resolved.
The City of Victoria said all parking fees would be waived for anyone with vehicles trapped inside and city staff were handing out bus passes and taxi vouchers for those affected.
