'Bodies everywhere': Witnesses of Vancouver festival attack describe horror
The incident took place after 8 pm near East 41st Avenue and Fraser Street, where the Lapu Lapu Day Block Party was taking place.
Several people were killed and injured in Canada's Vancouver after a car ploughed into a crowd at a Filipino street festival on Saturday. The Canadian authorities have confirmed the incident but haven't divulged the number of casualties. The driver, whose identity is unknown as of now, has been taken into custody.The incident took place after 8 pm near East 41st Avenue and Fraser Street, where the Lapu Lapu Day Block Party was taking place, reported Reuters.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on X that he was devastated to hear about the "horrific events".
Vancouver's Mayor Ken Sim and British Columbia Premier David Eby posted similar comments on X.
What happened?
A witness told Canadian media that the vehicle in question was a black SUV, which was being driven erratically in the area.
Yoseb Vardeh, co-owner of food truck Bao Buns, said in an interview with Postmedia that he didn't see the driver but heard an engine revving.
"I didn’t get to see the driver, all I heard was an engine rev. I got outside my food truck, I looked down the road, and there were just bodies everywhere,” he said.
He said the driver drove through the middle of the crowd.
"He went through the whole block, he went straight down the middle," he added.
The festival, which commemorates a Filipino anti-colonial leader from the 16th century, falls this year on the weekend before Canada's election.
Photos published by Canadian broadcaster CBC showed emergency crews at the scene as well as large crowds at the block party earlier Saturday.
With inputs from AFP, AP
