Nine people were killed when a driver plowed into a crowd at a Filipino cultural celebration in Vancouver, police in the Canadian city said Sunday, April 27. "As of now, we can confirm nine people have died after a man drove through a crowd at last night's Lapu Lapu Festival," the police said on X.

Authorities said the incident happened shortly after 8 pm on Saturday in Vancouver's Sunset on Fraser neighborhood as members of the Filipino community gathered to celebrate Lapu Lapu Day. The festival, which commemorates a Filipino anti-colonial leader from the 16th century, falls this year on the weekend before Canada's election.

A 30-year-old local man was arrested at the scene, Vancouver police posted on X. The driver was a "lone suspect" known to police, a police spokesperson told journalists at the scene.

Prime Minister Mark Carney on Sunday described the incident as a "car-ramming attack," adding that more than 20 people were injured. Police have ruled out terrorism as a motive and Carney, speaking a day before a national election, said that while the investigation is ongoing there is no indication of an "active threat to Canadians," following the attack.

Carney also said he was "devastated" by the "horrific events." "I offer my deepest condolences to the loved ones of those killed and injured, to the Filipino Canadian community, and to everyone in Vancouver," he wrote earlier on X. "We are all mourning with you."

Footage posted online and verified by Agence France-Presse shows a black SUV with a damaged hood parked on a street littered with debris, meters from first aiders tending to people lying on the ground.

Photos published by Canadian broadcaster CBC showed emergency crews at the scene as well as large crowds at the block party earlier Saturday. Festival security guard Jen Idaba-Castaneto told local news site Vancouver Is Awesome that she saw "bodies everywhere." "You don't know who to help, here or there," she said.

British Columbia premier David Eby said he was "shocked and heartbroken" by the news, while city mayor Ken Sim said "our thoughts are with all those affected and with Vancouver's Filipino community during this incredibly difficult time."

Saturday's event featured a parade, a film screening, dancing and a concert, with two members of the Black Eyed Peas featured on the lineup published by the organizers. Lapu Lapu Day is celebrated in the Philippines in remembrance of the indigenous chief Lapulapu, who led his men to defeat Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in battle in 1521.

The deadly incident comes a year after Canadian Nathaniel Veltman was sentenced to life in prison for running down a Muslim family with his truck on the street in Ontario in 2021. The ruling in Veltman's case was the first in Canada to make a link between white supremacy and terrorism in a murder case.

Canadians go to the polls Monday after a frenetic election race where candidates have wooed voters on issues including rising living costs and tackling US President Donald Trump's tariffs. Carney is favored to win after assuring voters he can stand up to Washington's barrage of sweeping tariffs.

(Source: Le Monde)