Montreal police and the city’s public health department are investigating suspected overdoses that sent six people to hospital on the weekend.
Emergency services responded to the reported overdoses in the city’s Ville-Marie borough on Sunday afternoon.
Police say all the people involved were reacting to the same unknown substance and six of them were rushed to a nearby hospital.
As of Monday morning, police say five victims are out of danger. A 42-year-old woman remains in critical condition.
Investigators are trying to determine the circumstances that led to the suspected overdoses and what substance the victims consumed.
Montreal’s public health department also confirmed it has launched its own investigation into the incident and to evaluate the risks for the public. It says this is “unfortunately not the first time this has occurred due to the instability and contamination of street drugs in Montreal, particularly by fentanyl, xylazine or nitazenes.”
“This situation is extremely worrying,” the department said in an email.
Public health authorities advise never consuming drugs alone and to attend supervised injection sites in the case of regular use. They also recommend having naloxone, a medication that reverses opioid overdoses, on hand and to call 911 in the event of overdoses.
It’s also best to use drug checking services and to reduce the dose — especially if it’s from a new source, according to public health.
— with files from Global News’ Tim Sargeant and Matilda Cerone
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