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11 people confirmed killed in Lapu Lapu Vancouver street festival incident

Kenneth Chan
Kenneth Chan
|
Apr 27 2025, 10:45 am
11 people confirmed killed in Lapu Lapu Vancouver street festival incident
Emergency response for the incident on Fraser Street near East 41st Avenue in Vancouver on April 26, 2025. (Abigail Butch Andiso)

UPDATE at 9:20 a.m.: During a morning press conference after 9 am, Vancouver Police state the death toll has further risen to 11 people, with dozens more injured.

Original article at 3:45 a.m.:

In an update issued at 3:05 a.m. Sunday, the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) confirmed that at least nine people were killed when a car plowed through a crowd at the Lapu Lapu Day Block Party, a street festival celebrating Filipino heritage.

The incident at the major event occurred at approximately 8:15 p.m. Saturday in the vicinity of Fraser Street south of East 41st Avenue, near John Oliver Secondary School, within an area with rows of parked food trucks.

During a press conference at midnight, acting VPD chief Steve Rai confirmed that one lone male in his 30s who is “known to police” has been taken into custody. He says the suspect was initially apprehended at the scene by the crowd.

Photos and videos circulating on social media show a very significant emergency response in the area, with some footage capturing numerous people seriously injured or motionless on the ground. As well, a black SUV at the scene sustained very significant front damage.

Rai emphasized that “there’s no further danger to the public.”

As well, in a further update at 1:34 a.m. on Sunday, the VPD stated the following in a post on X: “We are confident that this incident was not an act of terrorism.”

Federal, provincial, and municipal leaders have issued statements expressing their condolences and grief.

VPD states they have established a 24-hour assistance centre at Douglas Park Community Centre at 801 West 22nd Ave., where VPD officers and victim services professionals have been deployed to help anyone who has not been able to contact a loved one who was at the festival. Anyone who is not able to attend in person is asked to call 604-717-3321.

Further information on the incident is expected to be released by VPD later on Sunday.

As well, the Filipino Canadian Community & Cultural Society of BC, the organizers of the festival, will hold a press conference at 10 a.m. Sunday at a Fraser Street location near ground zero. The event organizers will be joined by Mable Elmore, the BC NDP’s MLA for the riding of Vancouver-Kensington, where the incident took place.

Daily Hive will have more continuing coverage later on Sunday.

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