Filipino-Canadian business owner recounts seeing Vancouver festival attack unfold before his eyes
Editor’s note: This article mentions details of death and violence that occurred at the Vancouver Lapu Lapu Day festival. Some readers may find it disturbing.
The Vancouver Lapu Lapu Day Block Party should’ve been business as usual for Kris Pangilinan until tragedy struck the festivities.
The small business owner is the founder of Kalamansi Collective, a clothing and lifestyle brand inspired by Filipino culture.
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He recounted the harrowing experience of seeing the attack unfold before his eyes in an Instagram video on Wednesday and at a vigil in Toronto on Tuesday.
Pangilinan says they attended the festival as a vendor.
“The sun was shining, everyone was laughing, smiles all around and not a cloud in the sky until the incident happened. Unfortunately, we witnessed the entire incident,” he said in the video.
At a vigil in Toronto, he spoke to a crowd of mourners, saying that he recalled thinking the vehicle was coming in to load supplies as the festival was winding down.
Vigil for the victims of the Lapu Lapu Day festival attack in Toronto on Tuesday. (Isabelle Docto/Daily Hive)
Then, he saw it slowly pick up speed and knock someone off their feet.
“In front of my booth, he revved his vehicle and we didn’t really know what was going on,” Pangilinan recalled, fighting back tears. “We were like, ‘What is happening?’ and all of a sudden, it ploughed through hundreds of people.”
“I will never forget, it’s replaying in my head every two minutes. The sounds of the bodies hitting the car, bodies flying in the air.”
The Kalamansi Collective founder says he was in total shock, trying to figure out what was going on and checking to make sure his team members were safe.
He found out later that one woman he spoke with right before the attack was hit and is in critical condition at the hospital. He says she was able to push her 10-year-old son away just in time before the SUV hit her.
“Today, we’re grieving. Today we’re processing, and today, our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, those who were injured and those who witnessed the incident. This is going to take some time for us to process,” he said in the Instagram video.
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Pangilinan got emotional as he thanked everyone who had reached out to him.
“I’m sorry I haven’t had a chance to reach out back to all of you, the support that we saw from everyone, making sure that we’re okay, truly means a lot,” he said.
Kalamansi Collective is selling three shirts: “Together We Rise,” “The Kindest People In The World,” and “Mabuhay More Life” to raise funds for the victims of the attack.
Pangilinan said 100 per cent of the proceeds of these three shirts will go towards Filipino BC and the victims of the senseless tragedy.
In the days following the Vancouver Lapu Lapu Day incident, the city’s mayor has called for changes in dealing with the city’s mental health crisis.
Multiple fundraisers have been set up for victims, and mental health resources have been shared.
If you have been personally affected by the Vancouver Lapu Lapu Day festival tragedy, check out these resources.