Nine people were killed when a driver ran over a crowd in a Filipina cultural celebration in Vancouver, the Canadian city police said on Sunday.
“From now on, we can confirm that nine people have died after a man led through a crowd at the Lapu Lapu festival last night,” said the police in X.
A 30 -year -old local man was arrested on the scene, Vancouver police posted in X. The driver was a “suspicious lonely” known by the police, a police spokesman told journalists on the scene.
“At this time, we are sure that this incident was not an act of terrorism,” Vancouver police said early on Sunday morning.
Images published online and verified by AFP It shows a black SUV with a damaged hood parked in a street full of rubble, meters of first aid that serve people who are on the ground.
Witnesses Dale Selipe told the Vancouver Sun which saw the injured children in the street after the vehicle got into the crowd.
“There was a lady with her eyes looking, one of her legs was already broken. A person was holding her hand trying to comfort her,” Selipe told the newspaper.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he was “devastated” by the “horrible events.”
“I offer my deepest condolences to the loved ones of the murdered and injured, to the Canadian Filipino community and all in Vancouver,” he wrote in X.
“We are all mourning with you.”
King Carlos III of Great Britain said that he and Queen Camilla were “deeply sad” for the incident in Vancouver.
“Our hearts and prayers are with all those whose lives have been destroyed by such a desperate tragedy and send our deepest possible sympathy at the most agonizing moment for so many in Canada,” said the monarch, who is also head of state of Canada, in a statement.
The incident occurred when the members of the Filipina community met to celebrate Lapu Lapu Day, the mayor of Vancouver, Ken Sim, published in X.
The festival, which commemorates an anti -colonial leader of the 16th century, falls this year the weekend before Canada’s elections.
“Our thoughts are with all those affected and with the Filipina de Vancouver community during this incredibly difficult time,” Sim wrote.
Police said the incident occurred shortly after 8:00 pm on Saturday (8 am pkt, Sunday) in the sunset of the city in the neighborhood of Fraser.
The Philippines consulate in Vancouver said in a Facebook statement that “he expresses his deep concern and sympathy with the victims of the horrible incident.”
Photos published by Canadian Broadcaster CBC He showed emergency teams on the scene, as well as great crowds at the block party on Saturday.
The safety guard of the Idaba-Coasto Festival said to the local news site Vancouver is amazing that she saw “bodies everywhere.”
“You don’t know who to help, here or there. It’s very shocking,” he said.
British Columbia Prime Minister David Eby said he was “shocked and disconsolate” for the news in an X publication.
Electoral season
The Saturday event presented a parade, a projection of films, dance and a concert, with two members of the black -eyed peas presented in the alignment published by the organizers.
“Our thoughts are with the victims and their families, and the Filipina de Vancouver community,” said Jagmeet Singh, leader of the new leftist Democratic party in X.
Lapu Lapu’s day is celebrated in the Philippines in the memory of the Indigenous Chief Lapulapu, who led his men to defeat the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in the battle in 1521.
The deadly incident occurs a year after Canadian Nathaniel Veltman was sentenced to life imprisonment for running for a Muslim family with his truck on the street in London, Ontario, in 2021.
The ruling in the case of Veltman was the first in Canada in making a link between white supremacy and terrorism in a murder case.
The Canadians go to the polls on Monday after a frantic electoral race where candidates have courted voters on issues that include the rates of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, and the increase in costs of life.
Sunday is the last day for Carney and conservative leader Pierre Poilievre to make their releases to voters. Carney delayed the election campaign on Sunday after the incident took place.
Prime Minister Mark Carney is favored to win after ensuring voters that the alluvion of Washington radical rates can face.
His liberal party followed the conservatives for more than 20 points in most surveys on January 6, the day when former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his plans to resign.
