‘Mass casualty incident’ after car driven into crowd in Canada

Police are investigating a “mass casualty incident” in which “several people were killed” after a car was driven into a crowd in Vancouver.

Authorities in the Canadian city said “multiple others” were injured during the incident, which occurred at approximately 20:14 local time on Saturday (03:14 GMT on Sunday) at a street festival.

Police said a 30-year-old male suspect was in custody and that they were “confident that this incident was not an act of terrorism”. It is unclear how many people have been killed.

Police said the suspect had driven into pedestrians at the annual Lapu Lapu festival, which celebrates Filipino culture, at East 43rd Avenue and Fraser, in the south of Vancouver.

Steve Rai, Vancouver Police’s interim chief, told a news conference that there had been one vehicle and one suspect involved in the incident. He said more details would be released in the morning.

The owner of a food truck selling bao buns at the festival, Yoseb Vardeh, told the BBC World Service that the attack happened right in front of his van.

“This guy, he killed some of my customers,” he said. “There was people waiting for their buns that got hit.”

Mr Vardeh added: “I stepped outside of my food truck and I just saw bodies underneath people’s food trucks, husbands crying out for their wives or their kids… It was just horrible.”

Unverified footage posted on social media showed a number of police cars, ambulances and fire engines at the scene, with injured people lying on the ground.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a statement on X that he was “devastated to hear about the horrific events at the Lapu Lapu festival in Vancouver”.

He continued: “I offer my deepest condolences to the loved ones of those killed and injured, to the Filipino Canadian community, and to everyone in Vancouver. We are all mourning with you.”

He also thanked emergency responders for their “swift action”.

Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim said he was “shocked and deeply saddened by the horrific incident”, adding in a post that his “thoughts are with all those affected and with Vancouver’s Filipino community during this incredibly difficult time.”

One of Vancouver’s city councillors, Peter Fry, told the BBC that local residents were struggling to process what had happened.

“This celebration was a huge, fun, vibrant, family-orientated street party, and it was a fantastic event. To see it turn so horrible so quickly and unexpectedly has, I think, our entire city is in shock,” he said.

Lapu Lapu Day is celebrated every year in the Philippines on 27 April to commemorate Lapu-Lapu, a national hero who resisted Spanish colonisation.

The festival was officially set up in Vancouver in 2023. Its website says it “symbolises the cultural harmony and mutual respect that thrive in the province of British Columbia”.

In the wake of the attack, leaders of different political parties have also been sharing messages of condolence.

Pierre Poilievre, leader of Canada’s Conservative Party, called the incident a “senseless attack”, while the leader of the British Columbia New Democratic Party, David Eby, said he was “shocked and heartbroken”.

New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh – who had attended the festival but was not present when the incident occurred – said he was “horrified to learn” that innocent people had been killed and injured.

“As we wait to learn more, our thoughts are with the victims and their families – and Vancouver’s Filipino community, who were coming together today to celebrate resilience,” he added.

Singh, Poilievre and Carney are all running in Canada’s federal election on Monday. Singh’s constituency of Burnaby Central lies just east of where the incident took place.