Seven people were killed when a driver ploughed their car into a crowd at a street festival on Saturday in the Canadian city of Vancouver, local police said.
Vancouver police confirmed on an online post that. “A number of people have been killed and multiple others are injured,” and “The driver is in custody.”
A witness told CTV News that he saw a black vehicle driving erratically in the area of the festival before the crowd was struck. The Vancouver Sun said thousands of people had been in the area celebrating the event.
“I didn’t get to see the driver, all I heard was an engine rev,” said Yoseb Vardeh, a food truck operator, in an interview with Postmedia.
“I got outside my food truck, I looked down the road and there’s just bodies everywhere,” said Vardeh, as his voice broke. “He went through the whole block, he went straight down the middle.”
The incident happened just after 8pm near East 41st Avenue and Fraser Street as members of the Filipino community gathered to celebrate Lapu Lapu Day, said the Vancouver mayor, Ken Sim.
Ken Sim: “Our thoughts are with all those affected and with Vancouver’s Filipino community during this incredibly difficult time,”
The Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, said: “I am devastated to hear about the horrific events at the Lapu Lapu festival in Vancouver earlier this evening. We are all mourning with you.”.
The festival commemorates Datu Lapu-Lapu, a 16th-century Indigenous leader from Mactan, Philippines. Often considered the first national hero of the Philippines, known for leading a force of Visayan warriors who defeated the forces of Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan on April 27, 1521.
At this moment it is unclear what the motives were and if this attack was terror related.
