One driver plowed in a group of tracks attending a Philippine festival on Saturday night in Vancouver, British Colombia, killing at least nine people, according to local authorities.
Vancouver police said earlier that they were investigating a “mass accident” at a neighborhood block party. Police said they had taken a “lonely suspect” on stage: the driver, a 30 -year -old Vancouver man.
“At about 8:14 pm on April 26, a man led to a large crowd of people who watched the Lapu Lapu Festival near the East 43rd Avenue and Fraser Street,” Vancouver police said in a social media. The annual event celebrates the Datu Lapu-Lapu, a national hero in the Philippines.
“From now on, we can confirm that nine people have died after a man has led to a crowd at the Lapu Lapu Festival last night,” police said in a different position in the social media early Sunday. “Our thoughts are with all who are influenced by this tragic incident.”
Vancouver police said in an email that the researchers ruled terrorism as an incentive, but did not offer further details. The photos posted by news agencies showed what seems to be a black SUV with significant damage to the front of the vehicle and its airbags were developed.
At a press conference, Steve Rai, the temporary police leader, did not encounter possible motivation for the incident, but said the driver was known to the police. The members of the crowd had subjugated the man before the officers arrived on stage, he said.
The incident happened less than 48 hours before the end of the federal elections in Canada. When asked by reporters if the incident is related to the elections, Mr Rai said: “I don’t know anything about it.”
Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a social media position that “it was destroyed to hear about the horrifying events at the Lapu Lapu Festival in Vancouver earlier this night”.
“I offer my deepest condolences to those who were killed and injured, in the Canadian Philippine community and everyone in Vancouver,” he said. “We are all mourning with you.”
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim said he was “shocked and deeply saddened by the horrible incident”.
Vancouver boasts the existence of a different multicultural city, with more than half of the inhabitants recognizing themselves as “visible minority”, according to 2021 census data.
Lapu Lapu Day is an annual celebration in the Philippines, marking the memory of Datu Lapu Lapu, who got up against Spanish colonization. In Vancouver, the festival was founded as an annual event in 2023.
