Vancouver crash newest: Several lifeless after automotive ploughs into Lapu Lapu avenue pageant, as police rule out terrorism

Vancouver police have declined to give details on the number of dead and injured.

“There was a number of deceased, a number also injured. It would be unfair for me to speculate on exact numbers as the victims were taken to multiple hospitals in the region,” said Vancouver interim police chief Steve Rai.

Several people have died after a car crashed into a crowd at a Lapu Lapu day street party.

Lapu Lapu day is a Filipino celebration of Datu Lapu-Lapu, an Indigenous Visayan Chieftain from Mactan, Philippines.

According to the street party’s website, Lapu-Lapu is a considered the first national hero of the Philippines.

He is described as an “enduring symbol of unwavering resistance and indomitable spirit during the Age of Exploration,” and “the first to rise against the tide of Spanish colonisation”.

The incident happened at a Lapu Lapu street party in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The driver drove into a crowd at a the festival at E. 41st Avenue and Fraser street.

The map below shows where the street party was taking place, according to the organiser’s website.

Canadian Police have said they are “confident” that the fatal incident at a street festival on Saturday night “was not an act of terrorism”.

Canadian political figures are reacting to the fatal incident at a street festival in Vancouver on Saturday incident.

Jagmeet Singh, leader of the New Democratic Party who was at the festival earlier in the day, said: “As we wait to learn more, our thoughts are with the victims and their families – and Vancouver’s Filipino community, who were coming together today to celebrate resilience.”

Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre said: “My thoughts are with the Filipino community and all the victims targeted by this senseless attack. Thank-you to the first responders who are at the scene as we wait to hear more.”

David Eby, the premier of British Columbia, the province where Vancouver is located, said he was shocked and heartbroken. “We are in contact with the City of Vancouver and will provide any support needed,” he added.

Vancouver mayor Ken Sim said in a statement on X that he was “shocked and deeply saddened by the horrific incident at today’s Lapu Lapu Day event”.

“Our thoughts are with all those affected and with Vancouver’s Filipino community during this incredibly difficult time.”

“I didn’t get to see the driver, all I heard was an engine rev,” Yoseb Vardeh, co-owner of food truck Bao Buns, said in an interview with Postmedia.

“I got outside my food truck, I looked down the road and theres just bodies everywhere,” said Vardeh, as his voice broke.

“He went through the whole block, he went straight down the middle.”

Vancouver Police have just issued a further statement after the incident on Saturday evening.

The force have now identified the suspect who was arrested at the scene as a 30-year-old man from Vancouver.

It added: “The investigation is ongoing and is being led the Vancouver Police Department’s Major Crime Section.”

It is not yet known whether the incident at Lapu Lapu festival in Vancouver on Saturday evening was an accident or deliberate.

Canadian police said the driver of a car which ploughed into a crowd was in custody, but did not add any more detail on the nature of the incident.