A driver entered a group of revelers who attend a Filipinian street festival on Saturday evening in Vancouver, British Columbia, killing at least 11 people, said the city’s acting police chief, adding that there could be deaths among the “dozens” of people injured.
The acting chief Steve Rai said on Sunday that a 30 -year -old man in Vancouver was in detention and the police had previously “substantial contact with him on mental health problems”. He refused to attribute any reason to the attack on the festival.
Investigators had excluded terrorism as a reason, said Vancouver police in an email early on Sunday, but they did not offer additional details. Prime Minister Mark Carney, who described the incident as a “car reduction attack”, said that federal national security officials “do not believe that there is an active threat to Canadians.”
The photographs published by press agencies showed what seemed to be a black SUV with significant damage to the vehicle, and its inflatable cushions are deployed.
“Around 8:14 p.m., on April 26, a man led to a large crowd of people who attended the Lapu Day festival near the East 43rd avenue and rue Fraser,” said Vancouver police in a position on social networks. The annual event famous datu Lapu Lapu, a national hero in the Philippines.
The incident occurred less than 48 hours before the federal elections occurred in Canada.
Stressing the initial police assessment that the attack was an isolated event, the police will authorize a 10 -kilometer race which attracted more than 45,000 participants last year on Sunday.
Alan Kane, a witness, told CBC Radio that just before the attack, the crowd in the street where she had occurred was “wall on wall” and aligned for food trucks. He said he seemed that the street was only blocked by plastic barriers.
Several witnesses told Canadian media that these obstacles had been withdrawn before the incident. Kris Pangilinan, who sold clothing on a stand, said that some cars and trucks had been allowed to enter the crowded street to allow sellers to pack their stands. The Audi SUV, he said, was initially settled in caution in the crowd before accelerating quickly, reversing the victims.
“It seemed like we literally in a war zone,” Pangilinan told the CBC.
Originally published:
California Daily Newspapers
