Police confirm the object removed from Vancouver’s SkyTrain tracks on Friday evening was an explosive device strapped to three empty tanks.
After a passenger spotted the suspicious item on the train tracks in Surrey Friday afternoon, police shut down a portion of the line as explosives experts removed the device.
“It’s very concerning,” Transit Police spokesperson Anne Drennan told CTV News. “We have reason to believe this might actually be a very real pipe bomb.”
She said the device was strapped to three propane tanks or small fire extinguishers.
Drennan said authorities will now determine what the capacity of the explosive device could have been if it had exploded.
The canisters will also be tested for fingerprints and other forensic evidence after the explosive device is detached and detonated.
The SkyTrain tracks between Scott Road and Gateway stations were shut down for approximately three hours as police investigated. By 5 p.m. local time, authorities had removed the device and re-opened the line.
“It’s just been laid precariously, perhaps even tossed onto the SkyTrain tracks,” said Surrey RCMP Cpl. Drew Grainger earlier Friday.
One SkyTrain passenger whose commute was snarled by the closure said he didn’t understand how the device made its way onto the tracks, which sit high above ground level.
“Somebody must have brought that up. Someone should have seen them,” he said.
