Two police officers and three paramedics have been injured in a training exercise involving small explosives near Ottawa.
The officers and one paramedic suffered minor injuries, while two of the other paramedics suffered serious injuries.
Those two paramedics are being treated in an intensive care unit with second-degree burns to their hands, legs and other areas, Anthony Di Monte, chief of the Ottawa paramedics, said Wednesday afternoon.
The mouths, throats and lungs of the two seriously-injured paramedics have been "compromised," a source told CTV Ottawa’s Kate Eggins.
All five were injured following an explosion around 10 a.m. on Wednesday morning at a training site near the intersection of March and Klondike Roads in Kanata.
Other paramedics on the scene helped the injured after the explosion, transporting them to hospital.
The training exercise was taking place at an abandoned house involving small "forced entry" explosives, Ottawa Police Chief Charles Bordeleau said. The exercise was meant to simulate situations when officers use small explosives to breach doors and windows.
He said approximately 40 officers from the Ottawa police service and the RCMP were involved in the joint-training exercise. Paramedics and firefighters were also taking part in the training.
"Obviously, the priority is around the injured officers and the injured paramedics," Bordeleau said. "Our thoughts are with them right now to make sure they recover from their injuries."
The training site has been closed down and police have cordoned off the surrounding area. The Special Investigations Unit and representatives from the Ministry of Labour will be heading to the scene to investigate, police said.
The SIU is an arm's length agency that investigates incidents involving police where there has been a death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault.
With files from CTV News' Richard Madan, CTV Ottawa's Kate Eggins and The Canadian Press
