A driver killed a minimum of 9 folks when he plowed a automobile via a crowd at a Filipino cultural celebration in Vancouver, police within the Canadian metropolis mentioned on Sunday.
The Filipino group had gathered in Vancouver’s Sundown on Fraser neighborhood on Saturday night when festivalgoers had been hit.
“We will verify 9 folks have died after a person drove via a crowd eventually evening’s Lapu Lapu Competition,” Vancouver police mentioned on X.
The pageant, which commemorates a Filipino anti-colonial chief from the sixteenth century, falls this 12 months on the weekend earlier than Canada’s election.
Police mentioned they’ve arrested a “lone suspect” – a 30-year-old man from Vancouver who was recognized to them – and weren’t treating the incident as an “act of terrorism.”
An AFP reporter noticed law enforcement officials on the scene, with components of the pageant venue cordoned off.
Prime Minister Mark Carney mentioned he was “devastated” by the “horrific occasions.”
“I supply my deepest condolences to the family members of these killed and injured, to the Filipino Canadian group, and to everybody in Vancouver,” he wrote on X.
Footage posted on-line and verified by AFP exhibits a black SUV with a broken hood parked on a avenue plagued by particles, meters from first aiders tending to folks mendacity on the bottom.
Eyewitness Dale Selipe advised the Vancouver Solar that she noticed injured kids on the road after the automobile rammed into the gang.
“There was a girl together with her eyes staring up, certainly one of her legs was already damaged. One individual was holding her hand attempting to consolation her,” Selipe advised the newspaper.
“We’re nonetheless discovering the phrases to specific the deep heartbreak introduced on by this mindless tragedy,” group group Filipino BC, the organizer of the Saturday occasion, mentioned in an Instagram assertion.
“We’re targeted on supporting our group proper now, along with experiencing this trauma.”
‘Our bodies all over the place’
Competition safety guard Jen Idaba-Castaneto advised native information web site Vancouver Is Superior that she noticed “our bodies all over the place.”
“You don’t know who to assist, right here or there,” she mentioned.
The Philippine consulate in Vancouver mentioned in a Fb assertion it “expresses its deep concern and sympathies to the victims of the horrific incident.”
British Columbia premier David Eby mentioned he was “shocked & heartbroken” by the information, whereas metropolis mayor Ken Sim mentioned “our ideas are with all these affected and with Vancouver’s Filipino group throughout this extremely troublesome time.”
Saturday’s occasion featured a parade, a movie screening, dancing and a live performance, with two members of the Black Eyed Peas featured on the lineup revealed by the organizers.
Lapu Lapu Day is widely known within the Philippines in remembrance of Indigenous chief Lapulapu, who led his males to defeat Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in battle in 1521.
Canadians go to the polls on Monday after a frenetic election race the place candidates have wooed voters on points together with rising residing prices and tackling US President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Carney is favoured to win after assuring voters he can stand as much as Washington’s barrage of sweeping tariffs.
Are you ever fearful when attending a avenue pageant?
Tell us by leaving a remark under, or ship a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1
Subscribe to The South African web site’s newsletters and comply with us on WhatsApp, Fb, X and Bluesky for the newest information.
By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse
