After a deadly house explosion, police have warned residents of a small town in Alberta to be wary about opening packages delivered to their homes.
Victoria Sacktay, 23, was killed Friday in an explosion at a townhouse complex in the central Alberta community of Innisfail.
RCMP investigators said a package had been delivered to the first-floor apartment just prior to the explosion. Police confirmed later Saturday that the package contained an explosive device.
In warning residents to be vigilant, RCMP Sgt. Patrick Webb told CTV News: "We are wanting the public to be aware and be mindful of any unanticipated delivery of any packages."
Friends said the victim used a wheelchair and was the mother of a six-year-old daughter. Sacktay's aide, a 30-year-old woman, was in the residence at the time but escaped serious injury, police said.
Pastor Dave Wiebe, who is acting as a spokesperson for the family, said Sacktay's friends and relatives are "devastated, they are in shock."
"(They are) deeply, deeply mourning and they can't get their heads around what's gone on, what's taken place," he told CTV Edmonton.
Webb said RCMP explosives experts, including officers from Ottawa, had been brought in to assist in the investigation.
"At this time, we are treating it as a murder, as we do normally with all sudden unexplained deaths," he said.
Police have cordoned off several square blocks around the townhouse and said the area will remain blocked off for several days.
Investigators spent Saturday combing the neighbourhood for evidence with police dogs.
Residents of three other apartments in the townhouse were evacuated, although police say the damage was confined to the one unit.
Neighbour Garrette Stewart called the explosion "intense."
"I was sitting on the couch and it shook the whole house," he said. "It was pretty scary."
With files from Canadian Press and a report from CTV Edmonton's Kevin Green
