Vancouver Police said Sunday that at eleven people were killed after a driver plowed through a crowd celebrating a Filipino heritage festival in Vancouver, western Canada.
In Mark Carney’s first comments to the media following Saturday evening’s incident, the Canadian prime minister called it a “car ramming attack”, saying he was both “devastated” and “heartbroken.”
“Last night families lost a brother, a sister, a mother, a father, a son or a daughter,” he said at a press conference. “Those families are living every families nightmare.”
Thanking first responders, Carney said the incident had also left 20 people injured. He added there was no ongoing threat to Canadians, having been briefed overnight by his national security and intelligence adviser, as well as the public safety minister, about the situation.
Carney sent his “deepest condolences” before adding that his “wishes for strength go out to those injured and others impacted.”
As he closed a short briefing, the Prime Minister said the strength and resilience of Filipino community is exemplified by the term bayanihan, which refers to civic unity and cooperation.
“We will comfort the grieving, we will care for each other, we will unite in common purpose,” he said.
Vancouver’s 1130 NewsRadio cited a witness as saying they saw upward of 20 casualties.
Another witness told the broadcaster of screams as the driver of a black SUV plowed into the crowd, striking more than a dozen people.
A third witness, identified as Abigail, described a scene of “total chaos.”
“Everyone was panicking,” she said. “When I went towards where the car, that’s when I saw a lot more people that were injured, some already dead. Broken arms, broken bodies, about 20 casualties, or 30.”
Yoseb Vardeh, co-owner of a food truck stationed at the festival, told Postmedia he heard the car’s engine rev and what then sounded like a speeding vehicle.
“I got outside my food truck, I looked down the road and there’s just bodies everywhere,” said Vardeh. “He went through the whole block, he went straight down the middle.”
Vancouver police said the incident happened shortly after 8 p.m. local time (0300 UTC/GMT) near East 41st Avenue and Fraser Street, in South Vancouver.
Police said in an initial statement on X that they detained the driver.
A later police post described the suspect as a 30-year-old Vancouver man.
The interim police chief said the suspect is “known to police in certain circumstances.”
The tragedy occurred on a day when people gathered at a neighbourhood party to celebrate Filipino culture. The Vancouver Sun said thousands of people were in attendance.
The Lapu Lapu Day festival pays homage to Datu Lapu Lapu, an Indigenous leader of the Philippines who, in a battle in 1521, defeated Spanish colonial forces led by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan.
The festival organizers wrote on Instagram: “We are still finding the words to express the deep heartbreak brought on by this senseless tragedy. We are devastated for the families and victims.”
The organizers had earlier posted a video on Instagram to show people playing games at the neighborhood party.
But just a few hours later, a video posted to social media showed victims and debris strewn across a long stretch of road, with at least seven people lying immobile on the ground.
A black SUV with a crumpled front section could be seen in still photos from the scene.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said he was “shattered to hear about the terrible incident” in Vancouver.
Marcos Jr added that the Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver was working with Canadian authorities to ensure that the incident would be thoroughly investigated.
Police said Sunday said they were confident that the incident was not an “act of terrorism.”
The Vancouver Sun newspaper cited sources as saying the driver appears to have been suffering from mental health issues.
British King Charles III, who is Canada’s head of state, also sent condolences on behalf of himself and his wife, Queen Camilla.
“Our hearts and prayers go out to all those whose lives have been shattered by such a desperate tragedy and we send our deepest possible sympathy at a most agonizing time for so many in Canada,” the monarch, who is also head of state in Canada, said in a statement.
Vancouver Mayor Ken Lim wrote on X: “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.”
“Our thoughts are with all those affected and with Vancouver’s Filipino community during this incredibly difficult time,” Lim added.
The incident came just two days before Canada holds parliamentary elections.
Sunday is the final day for Carney and Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre to make their pitches to voters ahead of Monday’s vote, which has centered largely on US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and threats to annex Canada.
An official from Carney’s centrist/center-left Liberal Party said his campaign movements would be delayed on Sunday morning due to the car-ramming incident. – DW.
