At least nine killed in Vancouver after vehicle plows into Filipino festival
I am devastated to hear about the horrific events at the Lapu Lapu festival in Vancouver earlier this evening.
I offer my deepest condolences to the loved ones of those killed and injured, to the Filipino Canadian community, and to everyone in Vancouver. We are all mourning with…
— Mark Carney (@MarkJCarney) April 27, 2025
I am shocked and deeply saddened by the horrific incident at today's Lapu Lapu Day event. We will work to provide more information as soon as we can, but at this time @VancouverPD have confirmed that there are a number of fatalities and multiple injuries. Our thoughts are with…
— Mayor Ken Sim (@KenSimCity) April 27, 2025
Initial reports of several killed and over a dozen injured, after an SUV plowed into a closed-off street filled with people celebrating the Lapu Lapu Festival in Vancouver, Canada. pic.twitter.com/cLQQPfOMCq
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) April 27, 2025
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Business Standard
29-04-2025
- Business Standard
Vehicle attack in Vancouver devastates vibrant, growing Filipino community
For Bennet Miemban-Ganata, owner of a popular Filipino restaurant in Vancouver, the arrival of spring signalled the start of the season of fiesta," bringing both good business and a celebration of culture. From Filipino Restaurant Month in April to Filipino Heritage Month in June, there would be colourful clothes, folk dances and traditional food like crispy lumpia, marinated and grilled pork belly, and beef stew. And of course, there would be togetherness for Vancouver's rapidly growing Filipino community. All that made Saturday night's vehicle-ramming attack on a large crowd at a Filipino block party all the more devastating. We felt ... the whole day that it's a fun celebration, that people are happy being together, Miemban-Ganata said as she fought back tears Monday during an interview at her restaurant, Plato Filipino. We were just there to have fun, to know that we have each other in a foreign land. A black Audi SUV barrelled down a closed, food-truck-lined street and struck people attending the Lapu Lapu Day festival, which celebrates Datu Lapu-Lapu, an Indigenous chieftain who stood up to Spanish explorers in the 16th century. Eleven people were killed, including a 5-year-old girl and her parents. Thirty-two people were hurt. Seven were in critical condition and three were in serious condition at hospitals on Monday, Vancouver Police Department spokesperson Steve Addison said. Authorities quickly ruled out terrorism. The driver, 30-year-old Kai-Ji Adam Lo, faces multiple counts of second-degree murder, police said, and he had a history of mental illness that had prompted law enforcement responses, including one the day before the attack. His brother was the victim of a homicide in 2024, and Lo wrote in an online fundraising appeal that he was devastated by that killing. The festival is a testament to the growing presence of the Filipino community in the Vancouver area. Filipino-owned shops and restaurants, like Plato Filipino, have proliferated, especially in South Vancouver. Miemban-Ganata said her restaurant serves as a gathering place, one where people feel comfortable enough to leave their kids when they're pinched for child care. Over the weekend, British Columbia Premier David Eby vowed not to let the tragedy define the celebration and urged people to channel their rage into helping those affected. I don't think there is a British Columbian that hasn't been touched in some way by the Filipino community, he said. This is a community that gives and gives and yesterday was a celebration of their culture. Filipino immigration to Canada was heavily restricted until the 1960s, when Filipino immigrants began arriving to help offset labour shortages in Canada's health care, garment and other industries, according to a Canadian Historical Association report. Now many work in finance, caregiving, real estate and other sectors. Filipinos are the third-largest Asian immigrant population in Canada with nearly 1 million residents, and more than one-third arrived in the previous decade, according to the 2021 census. And roughly 175,000 live in British Columbia, mostly in the Vancouver area, where they make up a little more more than 5 per cent of the population. The community's growth helped prompt the formation in 2023 of Filipino BC, a nonprofit that seeks to foster Filipino Canadian heritage. Filipino BC has advocated for a Filipino cultural centre and organised the first Lapu Lapu Day celebration last year. The festival is already so popular that it has attracted attendees from Seattle and Toronto, said RJ Aquino, chair of the organisation's board. It's really a festival designed to celebrate and share our culture, Aquino said. Everybody also just loves having a big party. Aquino grew up in the Philippines and moved briefly to the US as a teenager before settling in the Vancouver area in the 1990s. The Filipino community was small then It really did feel like everybody knew each other, he said and even now it's not uncommon to meet a stranger and learn that they're related through an aunt or uncle. As he stood before a memorial of flowers and a white cross, he called the weekend "the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. He had left the festival to have dinner with his family when he received a call about the attack and raced back. The community's first imperative, he said, was to just be present with each other and make sure we don't feel alone. The city of Vancouver and Province of British Columbia had been active in offering support services, he noted. The Filipino community knows how to be resilient, Aquino said. How that manifests this time around from a tragedy we've never experienced, on a scale like this we're going to see how it plays out, and I'm going to make sure we come out of this stronger.
NDTV
29-04-2025
- NDTV
Girl, Parents Killed In Canada Car Attack, Brother, Doing Homework, Survives
VANCOUVER: As members of the Le family headed out the door to enjoy music, food and camaraderie at a Filipino heritage festival in Vancouver, British Columbia, their 16-year-old son decided to instead stay home to finish homework. Then news began arriving of a car plowing through the crowd. The teen's father, Richard Le, his stepmother Linh Hoang and his 5-year-old sister Katie Le, were among 11 people killed, said Richard Le's brother, Toan Le, in the world's latest vehicle ramming attack. The teenage boy is in a state of shock, Le said. His sister Katie Le was nearing graduation from kindergarten and was described as a vibrant and joyful child in a GoFundMe page posted by Toan Le. The black Audi SUV sped down a closed, food-truck-lined street Saturday evening and struck people attending the Lapu Lapu Day festival, which celebrates Datu Lapu-Lapu, an Indigenous chieftain who stood up to Spanish explorers in the 16th century. Thirty-two people were hurt. Seven were in critical condition and three were in serious condition at hospitals Monday, Vancouver police spokesperson Steve Addison said. Those killed include nine females and two males ranging in age from 5 to 65, according to Addison. All of them lived in the Vancouver metropolitan area, he said. Mourners including Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney remembered the dead at vigils before Monday's national election. The crash came just two days before another vehicle smashed through a building in a town outside of Springfield, Illinois, during an after-school program, killing four children and injuring several others, police said. A 'significant history' of interactions with police Kai-Ji Adam Lo, 30, was charged with eight counts of second-degree murder in a video appearance before a judge Sunday, said Damienne Darby, spokeswoman for British Columbia prosecutors. Lo has not yet entered a plea. A woman who answered the phone Monday at the home of Lo's mother, Lisa Lo, said that the mother was too distraught to speak to a reporter. Investigators said more charges were possible. They said Lo had a history of mental health issues. Interim Police Chief Steve Rai said there was no indication of a motive but that the suspect has "a significant history of interactions with police and health care professionals related to mental health." Lo had contact with police the day before the vehicle attack in a neighboring jurisdiction, Addison said Monday. "That contact was not criminal in nature and it did not rise to the level where a mental health intervention was required," Addison said. The Associated Press could not immediately reach an attorney representing Lo. Online records showed that Vancouver Provincial Court issued a publication ban barring the release of details about the legal case against Lo. Such bans are common in Canada to protect the rights of the accused to a fair trial as well as the privacy of crime victims. Lo's brother, 31-year-old Alexander Lo, was the victim of a homicide at his home last year. Kai-ji Lo started an online fundraising effort, since deleted, seeking donations to bury his brother. He said he was "burdened with remorse for not spending more time with him," according to an archived version of the webpage. Their mother had taken out significant loans to build Alexander a home, leaving her financially strained. Screaming and bodies hitting a vehicle Noel Johansen was searching for dessert at the festival with his wife Jenifer Darbellay, an artist, and their two children, ages 7 and 15, when the attack happened. They lived only about a block and a half away and were visiting for the third time. "It hit us before we knew. I was falling in slow motion trying to save my head from smashing in the pavement," Johansen said. "It's like a giant tidal wave." Darbellay, 50, was killed, while the rest of the family survived. Johansen described her as selfless, creative and empathetic. Johansen said the day before she was killed, the couple was talking about politics and the many situations in which people seek revenge towards the person who hurt them. He said she told him: "That's the whole problem. We need to forgive the perpetrators of the crimes that are committed against us." Johansen said that he's trying to honor that philosophy. Hours before the attack, Makayla Bailey saw her friend Kira Salim, a teacher and school counselor, for the first time in a while and Salim had apologized for not being out and about more. "I told them, 'It's OK it's been crappy out, the weather sucks, summer's coming so I'm sure we'll see each other a lot more,'" Bailey said, recalling in an interview Salim's drag king performances that audiences loved. "I didn't think it would be the last conversation we would ever have," said Bailey. Salim was among those killed in the attack, according to the New Westminster School District, where Salim worked. Investigators were collecting evidence at the scene Monday and had executed a search warrant at a Vancouver property, Addison said. Investigators were also going through bystander video from the scene. Officials will review the situation, and it may change how they approach such events, Addison said. "This was intended to be a safe, fun, family-friendly community block party for people to celebrate their community and culture," Addison said. "The actions of one person stole that away from them." (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Time of India
28-04-2025
- Time of India
Vancouver car attacker's tragic family details: Brother murdered, mother attempted suicide
Vancouver car killer accused lost his brother last year. His mother attempted suicide. The disturbing details of the family of Kai-Ji Adam Lo have been revealed as the 30-year-old man has been charged with eight counts of murder after his brazen driving of his SUV mowed down at least 11 people at the Lapu Lapu Day celebration in Vancouver. Police earlier reported that the man was known to them under certain circumstances and that he had an extensive history of mental illness. After his name was revealed, Canadian media tracked down his social media posts, his neighbors and found out that the family has been beset with tragedies. Brother killed in 2024 His brother Alexander was killed last year, Globe and Mail reported citing a GoFundMe page that Lo founded after his brother was found dead on January 28, 2024 in a home two kilometers from where they live. It was a suspected murder and police arrested Dwight William Kematch on the scene and charged him with second-degree murder. The trial in the case is awaited. Lo described the loss of his brother as emotionally and financially shattering. Mom attempted suicide Soon after his brother's murder, his mother attempted suicide and was taken into intensive care. The neighbours said she remained in hospital for weeks. 'My mother took out significant loans to build him a modest tiny home, an endeavour already marked by painful encounters with builders,' Lo wrote on GoFundMe. 'The realization that he'll never return home pains both me and my financially strained mother, unable to afford proper funeral expenses. I hope he can find peace with a dignified farewell," Lo wrote about his brother's death. Lo wrote that he would try to have his brother recognized by Cirque du Soleil, where Alexander had worked. It is not yet known where Lo worked, but neighbors said he used to remain home most of the times. Shouting, yelling sounds were frequent from the house and police used to make frequent visits to the house. While the neighbors could not specify any reason, it could be in connection with the investigation into his brother's death.
