Mounties are investigating a mail bomb explosion that seriously injured a homeowner on northern Vancouver Island Tuesday.
RCMP confirmed the explosion occurred at a home in Port Alice when a man opened a mail package.
He received seriously but non-life threatening injuries and was sent to hospital. The incident appears to be targeted, according to investigators.
Port Hardy RCMP, explosives experts, and a bomb-sniffing dog were among those investigating the incident, and Canada Post is also involved, according to Mounties.
Police aren't releasing any further information on the motive or a possible suspect.
A North Island newspaper spoke with the victim's wife and reported that her husband was opening up the package in the bathroom when it exploded the first time.
“I’m phoning 911. All of a sudden, there is another bunch of smoke coming out of the bathroom, all down into our house. That’s how I know it went off twice," Shirley Bowick told MyComoxValleyNow.com.
"My husband's fingertips are blown off, he's in Nanaimo now having surgery," she said. "I couldn't hear for a long time, and my hearing's coming back slowly. I'm really shaken up by it obviously because our neighbours could've been hurt, our postal service could've been hurt, and that is very horrible."
She said the package was sent from Whitehorse, but the question remains as to why it happened.
"Everybody's really shocked as you can imagine," said Port Alice Deputy Mayor Bruce Lloyd. "People come here to get away from crime, but that doesn't stop crime from coming to us."
He said the device could've gone off anywhere, and he hopes the person responsible "gets the help he needs."
An explosives team was back at the house Wednesday with a robot that probed the scene.
The post office and the home were also searched for other devices, but there were no reports of anything else being found.
Mounties are continuing the investigation as the man who opened the package is recovering at Nanaimo's hospital.
Anyone with information on the explosion is asked to call Port Hardy RCMP at 250-949-6335 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
