Authorities in Canada evacuated hundreds of movie moviegoers earlier this week in Peel, Toronto and York regions of Greater Toronto after some masked men sprayed an unknown substance in theatres showing Hindi movies, news agency PTI reported on Thursday.
No serious injuries were reported in the incidents, though some of the moviegoers were treated for exposure to the unknown substance, the report said.
York Regional Police said one such incident happened around 9:20 pm on Tuesday at a movie theatre in Vaughan.
"Several movie-goers started coughing after two men in masks sprayed an 'unknown, aerosol-based, irritating substance into the air’ at the movie theatre in Vaughan Tuesday night", York Regional Police said adding that “around 200 people were inside the theatre, and were watching a Hindi movie".
Following the incident, several spectators were treated for exposure to the unknown irritating substance and the theatre had to be evacuated. However, the suspects managed to flee before the police arrived, the investigators said.
Releasing details about the suspects, the investigators said the first suspect was a black man with a light skin tone while the second man was described as brown with a light skin tone.
York police were liaising with both Peel and Toronto police about similar incidents that happened this week, CBC News reported.
"Coincidentally, they took place all within less than three hours on the same evening," a York police officer said on Wednesday.
"So we are certainly looking into the possibility that these incidents are linked", he added.
Confirming the incident, Peel police said officers were called to a theatre in Brampton on Tuesday night following reports of some unknown substance sprayed on the premises.
Peel police further said the building was evacuated, though there were no reports of any serious injuries.
No arrests have been made yet, the Peel police added
The Peel police said: "It is unknown at this time if any other incidents are connected but our investigators are aware of those incidents that took place in York Region and Toronto."
Toronto police also confirmed a similar incident at a theatre at Scarborough Town Centre. The officers evacuated the theatre and no injuries were reported.
On being asked if the incidents were being probed as hate crimes, a local police officer said, “There is no obvious indication that this is a hate-motivated crime, but we have notified our Hate Crime Prevention Unit as a precaution and they will be involved in the investigation."
Meanwhile, Cineplex in a statement said it was working "closely with local authorities" investigating the matter.