A driver plowed into a bunch of partygoers attending a Filipino avenue pageant on Saturday night in Vancouver, British Columbia, killing at the least 9 folks, in line with the native authorities.
Vancouver police mentioned earlier that they have been investigating a “mass casualty incident” at a neighborhood block get together. The police mentioned they’d taken “a lone suspect” into custody on the scene: the driving force, a 30-year-old Vancouver man.
Prime Minister Mark Carney mentioned that one other 20 folks had been injured in what he described as a “car-ramming assault.”
Investigators had dominated out terrorism as a motive, Vancouver police mentioned in an e mail, however they didn’t provide additional particulars. Mr. Carney mentioned that federal nationwide safety officers “don’t imagine that there’s any energetic menace to Canadians.”
Images revealed by information businesses confirmed what gave the impression to be a black SUV with vital harm to the entrance of the automobile, and its airbags deployed.
“At roughly 8:14 p.m. on April 26, a person drove into a big crowd of individuals attending the Lapu Lapu Day Pageant close to East forty third Avenue and Fraser Road,” the Vancouver police mentioned in a put up on social media. The annual occasion celebrates Datu Lapu Lapu, a nationwide hero within the Philippines.
“As of now, we are able to verify 9 folks have died after a person drove via a crowd ultimately night time’s Lapu Lapu Pageant,” the police mentioned in one other put up on social media early Sunday. “Our ideas are with all these affected by this tragic incident.”
In a information convention, Steve Rai, the interim police chief, didn’t handle a doable motive for the incident, however mentioned the driving force had been recognized to the police. Members of the group had subdued the person earlier than officers bought to the scene, he mentioned.
The incident occurred lower than 48 hours earlier than federal elections have been set to happen in Canada. When requested by reporters whether or not the incident was associated to the elections, Mr. Rai mentioned, “I don’t know something about that.”
Underscoring the police’s preliminary evaluation that the assault was an remoted occasion, the police will permit a 10-kilometer run that drew greater than 45,000 entrants final 12 months to go forward on Sunday.
The incident occurred simply as Apl.de.ap, a Filipino American rapper and a founding member of the Black Eyed Peas, had completed a live performance efficiency on the pageant on the grounds of a highschool.
Alan Kane, a witness, informed CBC Radio that simply earlier than the assault, the group on the road the place it occurred was “wall to wall” and lined up for meals vehicles. He mentioned that it appeared that the road was blocked to visitors solely by plastic limitations.
A number of witnesses informed Canadian information shops that these limitations had been pulled again earlier than the incident. Kris Pangilinan, who was promoting clothes at a sales space, mentioned that some automobiles and vehicles had been allowed into the crowded avenue to permit distributors to pack up their stands. The Audi SUV, he mentioned, had initially moved cautiously into the group earlier than quickly accelerating, flattening victims.
“It appeared like we actually in a conflict zone,” Mr. Pangilinan informed the CBC.
Different witnesses mentioned the driving force tried to run away earlier than being subdued by bystanders.
This was the primary mass killing involving a automobile in Canada since 2021, when a far-right extremist drove a pickup truck into 5 members of a Muslim household in London, Ontario, killing 4 of them. A choose dominated that the person was motivated by white supremacist ideology and deemed the killings to be an act of terrorism.
In recent times, police forces in Canada have recurrently blocked roads resulting in venues internet hosting giant crowds with snowplows or gravel-filled dump vehicles, a measure that didn’t seem to have been taken in Vancouver.
“Final night time, households misplaced a sister, a brother, a mom, a father, a son or a daughter,” Mr. Carney informed reporters in Hamilton, Ontario. “These households reside each household’s nightmare.”
Addressing Filipino Canadians, he added: “I be part of all Canadians in mourning with you. I do know Canadians are united with you.” ”
Mr. Carney canceled a few of his public occasions scheduled for the ultimate day of campaigning on Sunday, however he gave the impression to be persevering with with plans for a cross-Canada tour that may conclude Sunday night in Vancouver.
Vancouver’s mayor, Ken Sim, mentioned he was “shocked and deeply saddened by the horrific incident.”
Vancouver prides itself on being a various, multicultural metropolis, with greater than half of its residents figuring out themselves as a “seen minority,” in line with 2021 census.
Lapu Lapu Day is an annual celebration within the Philippines, marking the reminiscence of Datu Lapu Lapu, who stood up in opposition to Spanish colonization. In Vancouver, the pageant was established as an annual occasion in 2023.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. of the Philippines mentioned in a press release on Sunday that he was “utterly shattered to listen to in regards to the horrible incident” in Vancouver, and he expressed his “deepest sympathies” to the households of the victims.