TORONTO -- Peel police are investigating after a person was found dead inside a bus parked at a school in Brampton overnight.
At around 1:40 a.m. on Saturday, police received a call about a parking incident near Kingswood Drive and Linkdale Road.
Police said a damaged, yellow school bus was found in the parking lot of Kingswood Drive Public School and was missing license plates.
After investigating the bus, a deceased person was located inside, police said.
The circumstances are “unknown,” according to police.
A coroner attended the scene and will determine the cause of death.
The Office of the Fire Marshal (OFM) was notified after fire damage was found inside the bus.
Bevan Guy, an investigator with OFM, told CTV News Toronto that he believes there was a small fire in the bus, and it appeared to have started in the driver's area.
The body was located about three rows from the front of the bus. OFM believes the victim was sleeping at the time of the fire.
"It appears that at some point in time, that burning has caused heat energy and toxins to be released to the interior of a bus, which obviously has had an impact upon the victim," Guy said.
A portable space heater was recovered and will be examined.
When asked if the heater caused the fire, Guy said, "That is one very likely potential."
"From the point of the fire marshal's office, there is nothing suspicious at this time," he said.
Residents in the neighbourhood told CTV News Toronto that they are shocked about the incident.
"We didn't notice anything," Vikram Singhla said. "So it's very disturbing because it's right in front of our house."
-- with files from CTV News' Mike Walker
