Multiple fatalities are being reported from Vancouver, Canada, after a driver struck a crowd at a street festival. According to the local police, the event happened at approximately 8 pm (local time). The event occurred while members of the Filipino community assembled in significant numbers to commemorate Lapu Lapu Day in the Sunset on Fraser area of the city. The police confirmed that the driver has been arrested.
“A number of people have been killed and multiple others are injured after a driver drove into a crowd at a street festival at E. 41st Avenue and Fraser shortly after 8 p.m. tonight. The driver is in custody. We will provide more information as the investigation unfolds,” said Vancouver Police.
Police haven’t verified if it was accidental or car attack
So far, the police have not verified whether it was an accidental incident or a car attack.
Witnesses informed local news sources that a black SUV sped through the festival, striking several individuals as it navigated the crowd. They stated that the car’s driver seemed to be a young Asian man who appeared to have a mental disability.
Festival security officer Jen Idaba-Castaneto informed the local news outlet Vancouver Is Awesome that she observed “bodies all over.”
Canadian PM say he is ‘devastated’
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney expressed that he is “devastated” upon hearing about the incidents at the Lapu Lapu festival in Vancouver.
“I offer my deepest condolences to the loved ones of those killed and injured, to the Filipino Canadian community, and to everyone in Vancouver. We are all mourning with you. We are monitoring the situation closely, and thankful to our first responders for their swift action,” he wrote on X.
Vancouver’s Mayor Ken Sim expressed, “I am taken aback and profoundly saddened by the tragic occurrence at today’s Lapu Lapu Day celebration.”
Canada’s Opposition leader, Jagmeet Singh of the NDP, attended the Lapu Lapu Day event in Vancouver prior to the incident occurring. Subsequently, he expressed being “appalled to discover” that “blameless individuals” had suffered death and injury.
New Democratic MP Don Davies also posted on Twitter regarding the ‘horrific assault,’ expressing that he was ‘sending prayers for all the victims and their families.’
