At least 11 killed in Vancouver after vehicle ploughs into Filipino street festival

VANCOUVER - At least 11 people were killed and dozens injured when a man with a history of mental health issues rammed an SUV through a crowd at a Filipino community festival in the western Canadian city of Vancouver, police said on April 27.

Police arrested a 30-year-old Vancouver man at the scene of the incident on the evening of April 26, describing him as having had a “significant history” of interactions with authorities involving mental health.

They said there was no evidence of terrorism.

“This is the darkest day in our city’s history,” Vancouver Interim Chief Constable Steve Rai told reporters at a press conference on April 27.

He said dozens of people were injured, some seriously, and warned that the death toll could rise in coming days and weeks.

The attack on the evening of April 26 took place two days before Canada’s federal election on April 28.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s campaign movements were delayed on the morning of April 27, but he resumed campaigning after making a statement in which he expressed his condolences to the country’s Filipino community.

“Last night, families lost a sister, a brother, a mother, a father, a son or a daughter. Those families are living every family’s nightmare,” he told reporters in Hamilton, Ontario.

“I join all Canadians in mourning with you. I know that Canadians are united with you,” he said.

British Columbia Premier David Eby said at a press conference near the site of the attack on the afternoon of April 27 that it was hard not to feel rage towards the man who “murdered innocent people” for reasons that were not yet known.

“I want to turn the rage that I feel into ensuring that we stand with the Filipino community, that we deliver what they need, that we stand with those families who have lost loved ones,” he told reporters.

“I know it’s hard to believe it in this moment, but I know we will come back stronger.”

More than 12 hours after the incident, police still did not have a motive for the attack at the festival, which took place without a dedicated police presence or heavy vehicle barriers.

“There were no known threats to the event or to the Filipino community,” said Chief Constable Rai, noting that more than 100 police officers have now been assigned to the case.

The suspect was initially chased down and held by festival-goers until police arrived, witnesses said. The injured were taken to multiple hospitals, police said.

The incident happened shortly after 8pm in Vancouver’s Sunset neighbourhood, an area known for its large Asian population, where the Lapu-Lapu Day Block Party, celebrating a Philippine national hero, was taking place.

One witness told CTV News he saw a black vehicle driving erratically in the area of the festival just before the crowd was struck. A photo of the aftermath posted online showed a dark Audi SUV with both front fenders crumpled and the hood pushed up toward the vehicle’s windshield.

Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said he was “shattered to hear about the terrible incident” and extended his “deepest sympathies to the families of the victims and to the strong and thriving Filipino community in Canada.”

“The lives lost will not be forgotten,” he said in a statement.

Local authorities set up a 24-hour assistance centre at a nearby park facility to help anyone who had not been able to contact a loved one at the festival.

While mass casualty attacks are far less common in Canada than in the United States, such incidents have occurred with some regularity north of the border.

At least two of those attacks involved motor vehicles. In 2021, a man killed four members of a Muslim family by running them over with a pickup truck. In 2018, a man drove a rented van into a lunch-hour crowd in Toronto, killing 10 people and injuring 15 along a sidewalk thronged with pedestrians.

‘Horrific’

Online images showed the bodies of victims on the pavement alongside a row of colourful food trucks as others attended to them on a roadway littered with debris including what appeared to be a motorised scooter.

Filipino BC, a provincial community advocacy group, said in a post on X that people should refrain from viewing and sharing online videos of the attack.

Mr Jagmeet Singh, leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party, was among the attendees at the event, but left minutes before the vehicle arrived, he told reporters.

“We don’t know the motives, we don’t know any of the details, but ultimately this is something that targeted the Filipino community,” he said.

“I was there, and I just imagined the faces of the kids I saw smiling and dancing. It’s horrific,” he said.

Another witness, who did not wish to be identified, said he had seen about 15 people lying on the ground after the SUV ploughed into the crowd. The witness said the driver tried to run but was chased down and held against a fence for about 10 minutes until police arrived.

“I didn’t get to see the driver, all I heard was an engine rev,” Yoseb Vardeh, co-owner of food truck Bao Buns, said in an interview with Postmedia.

“I got outside my food truck, I looked down the road and there’s just bodies everywhere,” said Vardeh, his voice breaking with emotion.

“He went through the whole block, he went straight down the middle.”

The attack came at the end of the festival, following a concert headlined by Filipino-American rapper Apl.de.ap of the Black Eyed Peas, according to Mable Elmore, a member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly, who attended the event.

“Everybody was happy and getting ready to go. And that’s when, that’s when the incident happened,” Ms Elmore told reporters through tears.

“We are in incredible pain,” she said. “We will come together out of this catastrophe through the support and the love from the broad community.”

The festival, celebrated especially in the central Philippines, honours Datu Lapu-Lapu, a Filipino chieftain who defeated Spanish forces led by Ferdinand Magellan in the Battle of Mactan in 1521.

The government of British Columbia officially recognised April 27 as Lapu-Lapu Day in 2023, acknowledging the cultural contributions of the Filipino-Canadian community, one of the largest immigrant groups in the province.

Britain’s King Charles, Canada’s head of state, said in a statement: “Both my wife and I were profoundly saddened to learn of the dreadful attack and utterly tragic loss of life in Vancouver, which took place as the Filipino community came together to mark the celebration of one of their most special festivals.”

The centrepiece of the festival in Vancouver is a multi-block street party featuring Filipino food and traditions, live performances and cultural displays.

“I didn’t get to see the driver, all I heard was an engine rev,” Mr Yoseb Vardeh, co-owner of food truck Bao Buns, said in an interview with Postmedia.

“I got outside my food truck, I looked down the road and there’s just bodies everywhere,” said Mr Vardeh, his voice breaking with emotion. “He went through the whole block, he went straight down the middle.” REUTERS