Compiled from news reports

Canadian police were Tuesday investigating after a decomposing human foot was mailed to the ruling Conservative Party at its headquarters in Ottawa.

The package was partly opened by the receptionist who called the police after seeing blood stains and was overwhelmed by the smell.

"The Hazmat Unit and Emergency Operations Section were called and upon further inspection of the package it was determined that there was possibly a human foot in the box," Ottawa police said in a statement.

The box was then X-rayed and handed over to the local coroner who "determined that the package did contain a human foot. The Ottawa police major crime investigation continues," it added.

The police are interviewing post office staffs as well as morgues and hospitals in the area.

As the investigation developed, Ottawa police said late Tuesday night that they had intercepted a second suspicious package containing another human body part.

Police released no other details about the second find, and said the major crime section continues to investigate.

The horror was not confined to Ottawa. Ottawa police were consulting with their counterparts in Montreal after they discovered a severed torso in a suitcase. Montreal police sifted through a heap of garbage in the city's west end to see if they might turn up any missing limbs. Authorities in both cities are trying to determine if there might be a link to the foot mailed to Conservative Party headquarters.

Ottawa police said it was too early to speculate on a link.

A Conservative Parliament member who showed up later at his party's headquarters was horrified by the discovery.

``It's just awful,'' said Brad Trost, who first learned about the incident from TV. He said it was probably someone's ``sick idea.''

``I don't think any of us are thinking this necessarily has anything to with politics,'' he said.

Trost showed up for a meeting but was told by police it was best to leave.

A spokesman for the Conservative Party would only say that a suspicious package was sent to their office before referring all questions to Ottawa police.