A driver plowed into a bunch of partygoers attending a Filipino road competition on Saturday night in Vancouver, British Columbia, killing not less than 9 individuals, in accordance with the native authorities.
Vancouver police mentioned earlier that they had been investigating a “mass casualty incident” at a neighborhood block occasion. The police mentioned they’d taken “a lone suspect” into custody on the scene: the motive force, a 30-year-old Vancouver man.
Investigators had dominated out terrorism as a motive, Vancouver police mentioned in an e-mail, however they didn’t provide additional particulars. Images printed by information companies confirmed what seemed to be a black SUV with important 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 post on social media. The annual occasion celebrates Datu Lapu Lapu, a nationwide hero within the Philippines.
“As of now, we are able to affirm 9 individuals have died after a person drove via a crowd eventually night time’s Lapu Lapu Pageant,” the police mentioned in one other post 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 deal with a doable motive for the incident, however mentioned the motive force had been identified to the police. Members of the group had subdued the person earlier than officers received to the scene, he mentioned.
The incident occurred lower than 48 hours earlier than federal elections had 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 are 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 competition 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 site visitors solely by plastic obstacles.
A number of witnesses informed Canadian information shops that these obstacles had been pulled again earlier than the incident. Kris Pangilinan, who was promoting clothes at a sales space, mentioned that some vehicles and vehicles had been allowed into the crowded road to permit distributors to pack up their stands. The Audi SUV, he mentioned, had initially moved cautiously into the group earlier than quickly accelerating, pulling down victims.
“It regarded like we actually in a warfare zone,” Mr. Pangilinan informed the CBC.
Different witnesses mentioned the motive force tried to run away earlier than being subdued by bystanders.
Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada mentioned in a social media publish that he was “devastated to listen to concerning the horrific occasions on the Lapu Lapu competition in Vancouver earlier this night.”
“I provide my deepest condolences to the family members of these killed and injured, to the Filipino Canadian neighborhood, and to everybody in Vancouver,” he mentioned. “We’re all mourning with you.”
A spokeswoman for Mr. Carney mentioned that his schedule for the ultimate day of campaigning earlier than Monday’s vote could be revised due to the assault.
Vancouver’s mayor, Ken Sim, said he was “shocked and deeply saddened by the horrific incident.”
Vancouver prides itself on being a various, multicultural metropolis, with more than half of its residents figuring out themselves as a “seen minority,” in accordance with 2021 census knowledge.
Lapu Lapu Day is an annual celebration within the Philippines, marking the reminiscence of Datu Lapu Lapu, who stood up towards Spanish colonization. In Vancouver, the festival was established as an annual occasion in 2023.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. of the Philippines mentioned in an announcement on Sunday that he was “utterly shattered to listen to concerning the horrible incident” in Vancouver, and he expressed his “deepest sympathies” to the households of the victims.
