VICTORIA — The BC Coroners Service says 1,103 people died in the first nine months of the year due to suspected illicit drug overdoses.
A total of 982 people fatally overdosed in British Columbia in all of 2016.
The service says 80 illicit drug deaths were recorded in September alone.
The new numbers show fentanyl has been detected in about 83 per cent of fatal overdoses this year, up 147 per cent over the same period in 2016.
In most cases, the powerful opioid painkiller was combined with other drugs, including cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine.
The statistics show nine out of every 10 deaths occurred indoors.
