Greater Victoria sees 8 suspected drug overdose deaths in a week

The B.C.Coroners Service says drugs are likely thecause of eight deaths in Greater Victoria over the past week.

"That's quite a bit higher than we would expect in a one week period," said coroner Barb McLintock.

She says five men and three women have diedof suspected overdoses in several communities, including Saanich,Langford and Sooke, between December20 and 26.

The only confirmed overdose is a man who died in a downtownVictoria parkade last Saturday, and was found to have a mixed cocktail of drugs in his system, includingmorphine,heroin, fentanyl and methamphetamine.

The coroner is still waiting on toxicology reports for the other seven deaths.

"It would appearmost of them, if not all, of theseunfortunatepeople who died were regular experienced drug users," saidMcLintock.

Other agencies such as police have also reported seeing a number of overdoses where people survived.