5 people die of overdoses in Abbotsford within 9 hours on Friday

On Friday, one British Columbiacitysawfive people die of a drug overdose within a nine-hour period.

Police in Abbotsford, about 70 kilometres east of Vancouver, said three of the victimswere men and two were women.

Four died inside apartment buildings and one was found outside a business. They ranged in age from 40 to 67, and all of them died alone.

• B.C. overdose deaths now surpass 2016 total, coroner says

Const. IanMacDonaldsaid that that many deaths in such a short amount of time is "absolutely alarming."

"It's becomeregular for first responders to attend overdoses, but to walk away from those where you've got five deaths It'sdevastatingon friends, family, community and first responders."

MacDonald said police have issued "countless" warnings about street drugs, but saysubstances being sold in the city seem to be "more deadly than usual."

"What we currently have on our streets is obviously more toxic and we need to let users know,"MacDonaldsaid. "The fact that these people died, generally speaking, indoors and alone isn't lost on us either and we need to sound the warning."

The officer said police hope that users take note of the fatalities and take measures to safeguard themselves if they use: carryingnaloxone, takingless than a full doseand never usingalone.

Crisis continues

The BC Coroners Service saysthe number of overdose deaths in B.C. this year hassurpassed the total number of deaths in all of 2016.

In the first eight months of 2017, 1,013 people died from a suspected illicit drug overdose. That number was922 in 2016.

Police said it will take time for toxicology testing to determine whetherfentanylorcarfentanilcontributed to the deaths inAbbotsfordon Friday.

The coroner estimated that90 per cent of illicit drug overdose deaths take place insideprivate residences.