A community event in Vancouver turned tragic on Saturday when a dark SUV drove into a crowd gathered to celebrate a Filipino festival.
Toll: at least 9 people were killed, Reuters reported citing local media.
“It’s so horrific, I’m at a loss for words. I was just there, and I remember seeing the smiling and dancing faces of children,” said Jagmeet Singh, quoted by CTV News. Another witness who requested anonymity said they saw approximately 15 people lying on the ground after the vehicle plowed through the crowd. According to them, the driver attempted to flee but was quickly subdued by festival attendees, who held him against a fence for about ten minutes until law enforcement arrived.
Peter Fry, Vancouver city councilor, had attended the event earlier that day. “It was a beautiful day, a wonderful event, a great community celebration. For it to end this way is terrible. This won’t break us or our community, but it’s truly tragic,” he told CTV News, as quoted by Reuters.
The festival was celebrating Datu Lapu-Lapu, a Filipino chief who defeated Spanish forces led by Ferdinand Magellan at the Battle of Mactan in 1521.
In Vancouver, the festivities took the form of a large street party, occupying several blocks in the Sunset neighborhood, where Filipino cuisine and cultural presentations came together.
According to the Vancouver Sun, thousands of people were present at the location when the tragedy occurred.
Yoseb Vardeh, co-owner of the Bao Buns food truck, told Postmedia: “I didn’t see the driver, I only heard an engine roar. I stepped out of my food truck, looked down the street, and there were bodies everywhere. He drove through the entire block, going straight down the middle,” he added.
