The Tantallon post office has been evacuated after an employee opened a suspicious parcel Friday morning and became ill.

Dave Meldrum, the deputy fire chief with Halifax Fire, said they received the call for help around 9:45 a.m. RCMP and an ambulance also responded.

"Our firefighters discovered one employee outside in the care of EHS," Meldrum said. He said the worker opened the parcel and suddenly became ill and started vomiting.

He does not know if the worker was taken to hospital.

"It's our understanding that they are with paramedics and doing well on the scene."

Incident under investigation

Emergency workers shut down a part of Peggys Cove Road at Murray Drive for the investigation. The road reopened by 4 p.m. Friday.

The remaining five or six employees are out of the building, said Meldrum. He said they were all checked and are now being sheltered in a Halifax Transit bus.

"The parcel itself was removed from the building and it's outside now," he said. "We don't know what's in it right now."

Meldrum said there's no risk to the public, and the package is not explosive. The hazmat team is working with the RCMP to examine the contents.

He expects the investigation will take time, and the road closure will continue.

"I shouldn't be surprised that we would be there for the balance of today potentially."

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