Canada has confirmed that a weekend fire at a military training base in Alberta killed at least four service members and seriously injured dozens more, in what Prime Minister Mark Carney described as one of the worst peacetime tragedies for the nation's armed forces on home soil.
"The nation is in mourning for those brave members of our Armed Forces whom we have lost," Carney said on Sunday, adding that he had ordered flags on federal buildings across the country to be flown at half-mast to honour the victims.
National broadcaster CBC previously reported seven fatalities at Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Wainwright, citing unnamed sources.
Canadian authorities said the situation continues to evolve, adding that they will not release formal identification and figures until next of kin have been fully notified.
Mass-casualty response
The base, situated approximately 210 kilometres east of Edmonton, houses the Canadian Manoeuvre Training Centre, which runs complex training exercises for the army.
Carney noted that those affected in Saturday's blaze had deployed from military bases across the country.
The fire broke out at around 2200 GMT on Saturday within a base training sector as wind gusts reached up to 96 km/h.
Military and civilian emergency crews battled the blaze through the night in "some of the worst conditions imaginable", Carney said.
Air ambulances from Edmonton and Saskatoon flew to the facility to transport casualties, with patients receiving treatment in Edmonton, Wainwright, Calgary, and Red Deer.
Hospital personnel in Edmonton declared a "code orange" mass-casualty protocol to coordinate emergency intake.
The municipality confirmed the fire briefly breached the perimeter fence into the adjacent district before being brought under control, with no civilian evacuation orders issued.
National Defence Minister David McGuinty travelled to Edmonton on Sunday for emergency briefings on the incident.
