At least eleven dead and dozens injured after the car drives into the street festival in Vancouver

At least eleven people died and dozens of others were injured when a man drove a car on a crowd at a street festival in the Canadian city of Vancouver on Saturday evening. A 30-year-old man, who was known to the police, was arrested on the spot. The police assume that he only acted and that there was no question of a terrorist attack.

Interim chef Steve Rai of the Vancouver police spoke on Sunday during a press conference of « the darkest day in the history of our city ». The arrestant has « a significant history of interactions with the police and health care professionals with regard to mental health, » he said. Nothing is known about his motives.

The man drove a street in the south of Vancouver at 8.14 pm local time (5.14 am Dutch time in the night from Saturday to Sunday), which was deposed for a busy festival of the extensive Filipino community in the western city. The festival, on the occasion of Lapu Lapu day, the celebration of a Filipino national hero, was at the end of that moment; Street vendors started to break down their stalls.

Pop and shouting

Yoseb Varmeh, co-owner of a food truck at the festival, heard the sound of an accelerating car, he told Dagblad The Vancouver Sun. « It sounded like a car was driving too fast, it was incomprehensible because there were still people. Then I looked up and saw people flying. It happened very quickly. »

Abigail Andiso, a visitor to the festival, was with friends in the neighborhood when she heard two hard bangs, followed by shouting, she told the newspaper. They ran on it and saw a massacre between the food trucks and stands. « There were bodies on the street. They were run over. Some were already dead on the spot, » said Andiso.

There were bodies on the street, they were run over

The driver of the car was overpowered by bystanders before the police arrived to arrest him. Video images show that the front of the vehicle, an SUV, is damaged. Investigation into the incident is led by the Heavy Crime Department of the police.

In Canada there was a shocked response to the incident, which occurred in the last weekend of the campaign for Monday’s parliamentary elections. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke of « horrible events » and postponed one of his last campaign events on Sunday. He told the media that according to the authorities there is no active threat.

Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre of the Conservative Party visited a Philippine church near Toronto and said that the whole of Canada is mourning and supports the Filipino community. Jagmeet Singh, leader of the smaller, social-democratic NDP, was present at the festival on Saturday evening. He had just left when the incident occurred. « I am deeply sad and I want to let the Filipino community know that we are behind you, » he said.

Resistance fighter

Lapu Lapu day is named after the native resistance fighter Datu Lapu-Lapu, which fought against the Spanish colonization of the Philippines in the sixteenth century. The day was celebrated for the second time in Vancouver on Saturday, after being recognized by the province of British Columbia in 2023 as a holiday. About 6 percent of the population of Vancouver has a Filipino background.

Filipino President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he was « broken of the terrible incident » in Vancouver. He expressed his « deepest condolences to the families of the victims and the strong and flourishing Filipino community in Canada. » King Charles, the head of state of Canada, also said he was ‘deeply sad’.

The incident in Vancouver is the deadliest with a car as a weapon in Canadian history. In 2018, a man in Toronto killed ten pedestrians with a van.

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