A street festival in Vancouver, British Columbia, celebrating Canada’s Filipino population turned deadly when a driver crashed into a crowd, resulting in multiple fatalities and injuries. The local police stated that the driver, a 30-year-old man, has been taken into custody. The official cause of the incident remains undisclosed, but the authorities mentioned that the driver was already known to them. The festival honoring Lapu Lapu Day was underway in the southern part of the city when the driver struck the crowd shortly after 8 p.m. The Vancouver Police Department shared updates on social media, and videos from local news stations showed emergency services treating people on the ground.
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim expressed his shock and deep sadness regarding the horrific incident. A spokeswoman for Vancouver General Hospital confirmed that they had received several patients injured at the festival. Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada also shared his devastation and offered condolences to the loved ones of the victims, the Filipino Canadian community, and the people of Vancouver. Lapu Lapu Day was officially declared on April 27, 2023, by the province of British Columbia in honor of Datu Lapu-Lapu, a Philippine chieftain who resisted Spanish colonization in the early 1500s. The authorities estimated that around 100,000 people attended the festival on Saturday. Nearly a million Filipino immigrants and individuals of Filipino descent call Canada home, with the province of British Columbia being home to nearly a fifth of that population.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/27/world/asia/vehicle-ramming-vancouver-deaths.html
