Toronto Tim Hortons Explosion

CTV;

One man is dead following an explosion at a Tim Hortons restaurant in downtown Toronto.

The blast occurred in the washroom of the coffee shop located near the intersection of Yonge and Bloor Streets, just after 1 p.m.

Emergency crews responded to the scene and tried to help the victim. Fire department spokesman Daryl Fuglerud said the man had burns to his body. They do not know if he was a customer or an employee.

The intersection of Yonge and Bloor is central to Toronto’s downtown core. No details or speculation yet as to the cause, but all joking about “natural gas” aside, a washroom wouldn’t seem to be the likely place for that type of explosion.

Update – over radio: The man killed was wearing the explosives, his body is still at the scene,. He is not an employee, but has not been identified … Another evacuation is underway at a different Tim Hortons, because of a suspicious package…

Update IICTV is now reporting the man carried a can of gasoline into the washroom.

According to police, another man smelled gasoline fumes and ran out, yelling. A few moments later the blast occurred.

Investigators do not know what ignited the gasoline or what the deceased man’s motives were. Suspicion is focusing on either suicide or arson. They say he was definitely not a terrorist.

“He’s not a strap-on al-Qaida bomber guy,” Toronto Police Staff Sgt. Don Cole said Sunday evening. “It sounds to me like a guy who either wanted to do a torch job or commit suicide.”

[…]

Toronto’s police chief, Bill Blair, declined to discuss the possibility of a bomb.

He described the blast as “a very hot and intense fire in an enclosed area within the washroom.”

The police bomb squad worked at the scene for much of the afternoon.

Bizarre.

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Kate McMillan
About Kate McMillan
Kate McMillan is the proprietor of small dead animals, which has won numerous awards including Best Conservative Blog and Best Canadian Blog. She contributed nearly 300 pieces to OTB between November 2004 and June 2007. Follow her on Twitter @katewerk.

Comments

  1. Its all a part of a plan to push back the Canadian invasion at it source – Tim Hortons!

    Don’t think us Americans haven’t noticed your invasion of US space with Hortons. You guys are creeping down into the nothern US states, which makes us have to take drastic measures. Our next action will be start invading YOU with Krispy Kreme shops. We cannot allow this incursion to go unprotested. I’ve seen friends of
    mine praising Tim Hortons, and this has to stop somewhere.

    Err, what? Did I say that out loud? 😉

  2. anonymous says:

    Mob wants a cut of that stock…………!

    Terrorist work, probably not, but that is where it ends up!

  3. E.B says:

    Minich

    US needs all the help they can get, with their “Crap Coffee” We are doing yous a favour. Take it into consideration. Plenty of more Timmy’s coming your way, you can count on it.

  4. annonymous says:

    i would just like to say that i am a Tim Horton’s employee and i am very in to my job and for someone to say that we do not belong in the u.s makes me very disappointed because it makes me feel that people do not give things and places a fair chance. i feel we are being knocked before given the chance. at least stop in one day look up a local Tim Horton’s and come try our fresh coffee made every 20 mins and our fresh pastries..try something before you knock something….