Small explosion rattles people in downtown Winnipeg

Elizabeth Boille was expecting an afternoon of sunshine and hotdog sales when she heard a noise that sounded like a gunshot.

"I heard the bang and then I saw a lot of smoke," she said, adding it scared her.

"My heart is still palpitating."

She was helping a friend work at a hotdog stand across from the Law Courts building in Winnipeg on Wednesday when a small explosion filled the street corner with smoke.

Just before 2 p.m. CT police were called to the courthouse on York Avenue and Kennedy Street regarding a fire and a small explosion.

Boille said the noise startled her before she saw a security guard approach the flames with an extinguisher.

"[It sounded] almost like a massive tire exploding when it pops," she said.

Members of the police service's bomb unit and major crimes descended on the scene, trying to determine the nature of the explosion, including what type of device was involved.

One person, a security guard, was taken to hospital only as a precaution, police said.

Debris could be seen near a sculpture that stands outside the building but Const. Rob Carver, a police spokesman, said the residue from the blast is all that remains of the scene.

"It looks like it may have been preceded by a fire. Whether the device or whatever the device was itstarted on fire first, I wouldn't want to speculate," he said.

The courthouse was not evacuated, but people were told to stayinside until police cleared the building around 3 p.m. and allowed everyone to leave.

"There isn't any indication that there is any other items that we're worried about in terms of secondary explosions at this point," Carver said.

Additional staff and security measures were also put in place at the Law Courts, said Shauna Curtin, assistant deputy minister of courts.

"We have let all courts staff know about the incident and have reminded them to report any unusual or suspicious objects in their work area to a supervisor immediately," she said in a written statement.

No arrests have been made at this time. A large area around the building was cordoned off for severalhours while police investigated the blast.