Canada: Fatalities, Injuries As Vehicle Crashes Into Crowd At Vancouver’s Lapu Lapu Festival

Several individuals were injured when a vehicle ploughed into a crowd at the Lapu Lapu Filipino Festival in Vancouver, Canada, on Saturday, the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) reported.

The driver is in custody, and authorities have confirmed fatalities.

The incident occurred at the street festival on E. 41st Avenue and Fraser, shortly after 8 PM on Saturday.

"A number of people have been killed and several others injured after a driver crashed into a crowd at a street festival on E. 41st Avenue and Fraser just after 8 PM tonight. The driver is in custody. We will share further details as the investigation progresses," the VPD stated in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Meanwhile, multiple videos from the scene have emerged on social media.

New Democratic MP Don Davies described the incident as a "horrendous attack" on X, expressing that he is "praying for all the victims and their families".

What is Lapu Lapu Festival?

The Lapu-Lapu Day Block Party in Vancouver is a street festival celebrating Filipino culture and commemorating Datu Lapu-Lapu, the Philippines' first national hero, an Indigenous Visayan chieftain who led the triumph over Spanish colonisers in the 1521 Battle of Mactan.

Officially recognised by British Columbia as Lapu-Lapu Day on April 27 since 2023, the event is organised by Filipino BC and the Sunset on Fraser Business Association in South Vancouver's Sunset neighbourhood, a culturally diverse area.

The Lapu Lapu event takes place at John Oliver Secondary (East 41st Avenue) to East 49th Avenue, in the rear parking lots west of Fraser Street, Vancouver.