Several killed as driver plows into Vancouver festival crowd
VANCOUVER (AFP) — Canadian police arrested a man on Saturday after a car plowed into a street party in the western city of Vancouver killing a number of people.
Authorities said the incident happened shortly after 8 p.m. in Vancouver's Sunset on Fraser neighborhood as members of the Filipino community gathered to celebrate Lapu Lapu Day.
The festival, which commemorates a Filipino anti-colonial leader from the 16th century, falls this year on the weekend before Canada's election.
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.
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."
According to police, "a number of people have been killed and multiple others are injured" in the tragedy.
Footage posted online and verified by Agence France-Presse 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.
Photos published by Canadian broadcaster CBC showed emergency crews at the scene as well as large crowds at the block party earlier 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," she said.
British Columbia premier David Eby said he was "shocked & heartbroken" by the news, while city mayor Ken Sim said "our thoughts are with all those affected and with Vancouver's Filipino community during this incredibly difficult time."
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 organizers.
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 Ontario in 2021.
The ruling in Veltman's case was the first in Canada to link white supremacy and terrorism in a murder case.
Canadians go to the polls Monday after a frenetic election race where candidates have wooed voters on issues including rising living costs and tackling US President Donald Trump's tariffs.
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