The car, a black SUV, plowed into a crowd at a Filipino street festival just after 8 pm local time. Eyewitness accounts on social media show a street where dozens of paramedics are running to take care of the injured. On both sides of the street where the car drove, there are food stalls and food trucks, several of which have been hit. Debris is scattered all over the ground.
It sounded like someone was revving an engine, but I didn't understand why because there were still so many people everywhere. It was so incredibly unbelievable, says Yoseb Vardeh, who was working in his food truck at the scene, to the local newspaper Vancouver Sun.
Then I looked up and saw people flying. It happened so fast. I got out of my food truck and looked down and saw bodies everywhere. He (the driver) drove through the entire street, right through the middle of the street.
The Driver Arrested
The police confirmed during the night local time that at least nine people have died in the incident.
"At present, we can confirm that nine people have died", the police write in a post on X.
Several people are injured. The driver, a 30-year-old man from Vancouver, was arrested by private individuals at the scene, according to the police. The perpetrator is known to the police from before.
In some respects, he was known to us from before, says Acting Police Chief Steve Rai at a press conference at midnight local time.
The police are ruling out that it is a terrorist act. They do not want to speculate about any motive or further details about the incident.
"Like Bowling Pins"
A witness tells the Canadian public service broadcaster CBC that the car drove into the packed street just after a concert had ended. Several cars had driven to and from the location during the day, and a temporary barrier had been moved.
At first, it drove slowly, but then it sped up. When we realized it had hit someone, it accelerated and hit hundreds of people. It was like seeing a bowling ball hit the pins and how the pins just flew into the air. Bodies flew. It just kept going. People screamed and tried to get away.
Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney expresses his dismay on X:
"I am shocked by the horrific events at the Lapu Lapu festival in Vancouver".
Carney is postponing planned campaign stops ahead of Monday's parliamentary election in the country.
Even Britain's King Charles and the Philippines' President Ferdinand Marcos express their support and condolences to those affected in statements.
