A number of people have been killed and multiple others injured after a driver drove into a crowd at a street festival in Vancouver, police have said.
The driver has been taken into custody after the incident shortly after 8pm local time on Saturday, police added.
People were in the area near 41st Avenue and Fraser Street for the Lapu Lapu Day Block Party, named after a national hero of the Philippines.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a statement on X: “I am devastated to hear about the horrific events at the Lapu Lapu festival in Vancouver earlier this evening.
“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. We are monitoring the situation closely, and thankful to our first responders for their swift action.”
Video posted on social media showed victims and debris strewn across a long stretch of road, with at least seven people lying immobile on the ground.
A black SUV with a crumpled front section could be seen in photos from the scene.
One witness told Canadian broadcaster CTV News he saw a black vehicle driving erratically in an area of the festival just before the crowd was struck.
Another, Yoseb Vardeh, the co-owner of food truck Bao Buns, said in an interview with Postmedia he didn’t see the driver but heard “an engine rev”.
“I got outside my food truck, I looked down the road and there’s just bodies everywhere,” he said.
“He went through the whole block, he went straight down the middle.”
Jagmeet Singh, the leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party, was among those at the event, but left minutes before the vehicle arrived, according to CTV.
“This is so horrific, I don’t even know what to say,” he told the broadcaster. “I was just there, and I just imagine the faces of the kids that I saw smiling and dancing.”
Vancouver’s mayor Ken Sim said in a post on X: “I am shocked and deeply saddened by the horrific incident at today’s Lapu Lapu Day event.”
He added: “Our thoughts are with all those affected and with Vancouver’s Filipino community during this incredibly difficult time.”
British Columbia Premier David Eby also posted to say he was “shocked and heartbroken”, while Pierre Poilievre, the leader of the Conservative Party and opposition, said he was “shocked by the horrific news” and his thoughts are with “the Filipino community and all the victims targeted by this senseless attack”.
The incident comes as Canadians prepare to head to the polls to choose a new prime minister on Monday.
