Vancouver Police are investigating a “mass casualty incident” through which “a number of individuals had been killed” after a automobile was pushed right into a crowd in a southern neighbourhood of the Canadian metropolis.
Authorities stated “a number of others” had been injured throughout the incident, which occurred at roughly 20:14 native time on Saturday (03:14 GMT on Sunday) at a avenue competition.
Police stated a 30-year-old male suspect was in custody. It’s not but recognized how many individuals have been killed.
Police stated the suspect had pushed into pedestrians on the annual Lapu Lapu competition, which celebrates Filipino tradition, at East forty third Avenue and Fraser, within the south of Vancouver.
Steve Rai, Vancouver Police’s interim chief, instructed a information convention that there had been one car and one suspect concerned within the incident. He stated extra particulars can be launched within the morning.
The proprietor of a meals truck promoting bao buns on the competition, Yoseb Vardeh, instructed the BBC World Service that the assault occurred proper in entrance of his van.
“This man, he killed a few of my clients,” he stated. “There was individuals ready for his or her buns that received hit.”
Mr Vardeh added: “I stepped exterior of my meals truck and I simply noticed our bodies beneath individuals’s meals vans, husbands crying out for his or her wives or their youngsters… It was simply horrible.”
Unverified footage posted on social media confirmed a lot of police automobiles, ambulances and hearth engines on the scene, with injured individuals mendacity on the bottom.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney stated in an announcement on X that he was “devastated to listen to in regards to the horrific occasions on the Lapu Lapu competition in Vancouver”.
He continued: “I supply my deepest condolences to the family members of these killed and injured, to the Filipino Canadian group, and to everybody in Vancouver. We’re all mourning with you.”
He additionally thanked emergency responders for his or her “swift motion”.
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim stated he was “shocked and deeply saddened by the horrific incident”, including in a submit that his “ideas are with all these affected and with Vancouver’s Filipino group throughout this extremely troublesome time.”
The leaders of various political events have additionally been sharing messages of condolence.
Pierre Poilievre, chief of Canada’s Conservative Occasion, known as the incident a “mindless assault”, whereas the chief of the British Columbia New Democratic Occasion, David Eby, stated he was “shocked and heartbroken”.
New Democratic Occasion chief Jagmeet Singh – who had attended the competition however was not current when the incident occurred – stated he was “horrified to study” that harmless individuals had been killed and injured.
“As we wait to study extra, our ideas are with the victims and their households – and Vancouver’s Filipino group, who had been coming collectively as we speak to have fun resilience,” he added.
Singh, Poilievre and Eby are all working in Canada’s federal election on Monday. Singh’s constituency of Burnaby Central lies simply east of the place the incident occurred.
