Three members of family from Colombia died in Vancouver festival attack, says son
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Three members of a family of Colombian immigrants have been identified among the 11 people killed in a vehicle ramming in Vancouver on Saturday.
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Metro Vancouver resident Alejandro Samper says he lost his mother Glitza Maria Caicedo, his father Daniel Samper and his sister Glitza Daniela Samper.
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Samper says he rushed to the scene of the festival after receiving a call from his sister's fiance about a 'terrible accident,' but wasn't allowed in by police.
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'My parents sacrificed everything in Colombia, their careers, their lifestyle, everything to give us a better future here in Canada,' he said, adding they arrived in the early 2000s. 'It just doesn't make any sense. Canada is supposed to be a safe place.'
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'I'm just destroyed,' Samper said Tuesday. 'My whole world's taken away from me.'
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Samper said he's been left with many questions about what happened, and wonders why the festival didn't have barricades like other events, noting that he was at a Vaisakhi event the previous week where protective measures were taken.
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He said his parents were the 'nicest people' who helped many others, and the family was 'very, very close.'
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'They won't let us see the bodies because everything's under investigation,' he said. 'So, I never even got to say goodbye to my parents.'
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His family has started an online fundraiser through the GoFundMe platform.
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He said he's been dealing with a 'bombardment' of phone calls about the tragedy, and believes it's important to speak out because 'we need to get this message across, like, it's unacceptable this was allowed to happen.'
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Toronto man had to fight GoFundMe to get paid after organizer gambled away funds for his brother's funeral
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A spokesperson for GoFundMe defended its current policies in a statement, saying misuse of funds is "rare." In the statement, GoFundMe also said it acted quickly to investigate Oliver's case and noted that it does have a Beneficiary Guarantee, which aims to ensure money gets to the intended recipients. Months-long attempt to receive funds In January, Oliver reached out to the organizer via text to ask about the remaining funds so he could pay the rest of the funeral home bill. Texts reviewed by CBC News show the organizer responded and said she had "lots of things going on," but that she'd call him. Oliver says that call never happened, and the organizer didn't respond to multiple messages he sent after that. At the end of February, he asked the organizer if he could take over the GoFundMe account, and she responded that she would reach out to GoFundMe to try to arrange that. 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