BRITISH COLUMBIA: Nine people were killed when a driver plowed into a crowd at a Filipino cultural celebration in Vancouver, police in the Canadian city said on Sunday.
“As of now, we can confirm nine people have died after a man drove through a crowd at last night’s Lapu Lapu Festival,” the police said on X.
A 30-year-old local man was arrested at the scene, Vancouver police posted on X. The driver was a “lone suspect” known to police, a police spokesperson told journalists at the scene.
“At this time, we are confident that this incident was not an act of terrorism,” Vancouver police said on X early on Sunday morning.
Footage posted online and verified by AFP shows a black SUV with a damaged hood parked on a street littered with debris, meters from first aiders tending to people lying on the ground.
Eyewitness Dale Selipe told the Vancouver Sun that she saw injured children on the street after the vehicle rammed into the crowd.
“There was a lady with her eyes staring up, one of her legs was already broken. One person was holding her hand trying to comfort her,” Selipe told the newspaper.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he was “devastated” by the “horrific events.”
“I offer my deepest condolences to the loved ones of those killed and injured, to the Filipino Canadian community, and to everyone in Vancouver,” he wrote on X.
“We are all mourning with you.”
Britain’s King Charles III said he and Queen Camilla were “profoundly saddened” by the incident in Vancouver.
“Our hearts and prayers go out to all those whose lives have been shattered by such a desperate tragedy and we send our deepest possible sympathy at a most agonising time for so many in Canada,” the monarch, who is also head of state in Canada, said in a statement.
The incident happened as members of the Filipino community gathered to celebrate Lapu Lapu Day, Vancouver mayor Ken Sim posted on X.
The festival, which commemorates a Filipino anti-colonial leader from the 16th century, falls this year on the weekend before Canada’s election.
“Our thoughts are with all those affected and with Vancouver’s Filipino community during this incredibly difficult time,” Sim wrote.
Police said the incident happened shortly after 8:00 pm on Saturday (8am PKT, Sunday) in the city’s Sunset on Fraser neighborhood.
The Philippine consulate in Vancouver said in a Facebook statement it “expresses its deep concern and sympathies to the victims of the horrific incident.”
Photos published by Canadian broadcaster CBC showed emergency crews at the scene as well as large crowds at the block party earlier on Saturday.
Festival security guard Jen Idaba-Castaneto told local news site Vancouver Is Awesome that she saw “bodies everywhere”.
“You don’t know who to help, here or there. It’s so shocking,” she said.
British Columbia Premier David Eby said he was “shocked & heartbroken” by the news in a post on X.
Election season
Saturday’s event featured a parade, a film screening, dancing and a concert, with two members of the Black Eyed Peas featured on the lineup published by the organisers.
“Our thoughts are with the victims and their families — and Vancouver’s Filipino community,” Jagmeet Singh, leader of the left-wing New Democratic Party said on X.
Lapu Lapu Day is celebrated in the Philippines in remembrance of indigenous chief Lapulapu, who led his men to defeat Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in battle in 1521.
The deadly incident comes a year after Canadian Nathaniel Veltman was sentenced to life in prison for running down a Muslim family with his truck on the street in London, Ontario in 2021.
The ruling in Veltman’s case was the first in Canada to make a link between white supremacy and terrorism in a murder case.
Canadians go to the polls on Monday after a frenetic election race where candidates have wooed voters on issues including US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and rising living costs.
Sunday is the final day for Carney and Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre to make their pitches to voters. Carney delayed election campaigning on Sunday after the incident took place.
Prime Minister Mark Carney is favoured to win after assuring voters he can stand up to Washington’s barrage of sweeping tariffs.
His Liberal Party trailed the Conservatives by more than 20 points in most polls on January 6, the day former prime minister Justin Trudeau announced his plans to resign.
