Unidentified Yellow Powder Delivered To US, Canadian Consulates In Istanbul

Seven staff members from the Canadian consulate in Istanbul have been hospitalized after being exposed to a package that contained an unidentified yellow powder. Similar envelopes with the suspicious substance, samples of which have been sent to a lab for testing, were also delivered to the U.S., German and Belgian consulates on Friday, Turkish authorities said.

The seven individuals were hospitalized as a precautionary measure, Doğan Eşkinat, a spokesman for Turkey’s disaster and emergency management agency, AFAD, said. Referring to one of those Canadian staff members, Eşkinat said, "The person has been decontaminated as a precaution, and there is no reason to believe that there were chemical or biological agents in the powder," according to NBC News.

Claude Rochon, spokeswoman for Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, said all staff at the Canadian consulate are “safe and accounted for.” Joren Vandeweyer, a spokesman with the Belgian Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, said two of its staff members were hospitalized but were showing no symptoms. The German Foreign Ministry said the consulate received a “suspicious object” and that all staff members are safe.