 |
| A makeshift memorial at Vancouver's Lapu-Lapu festival began forming Sunday. |
The April 26 deadly attack occurred towards the end of the Lapu-Lapu festival in Vancouver, Canada and the majority of the crowd celebrating Filipino culture and foods went home.
Police arrested Kai-Ji Adam Lo, a 30-year old suspect who was chased and held by festival goers. Police say that there is no evidence of terrorism but the suspect is an mentally unstable individual with a history known by the authorities.
Vancouver interim police chief Steve Rai said at a press conference Sunday that it was the "darkest day" in the city's history.
"The number of dead could rise in the coming days or weeks," he told reporters, adding that men, women and young people were among the victims.
"The number of dead could rise in the coming days or weeks," he told reporters, adding that men, women and young people were among the victims.
 |
| Prior to the car careening into a crowd, the Lapu-Lapu festival attracted tens of thousands. |
The Lapu Lapu Day Block Party, which had attracted tens of thousand of people through the day, was winding down when the driver mowed down celebrants.
Kris Pangilinan, a Filipino journalist based in Toronto, told the CBC that as the vendors were packing up their supplies and cleanup crews had moved a barricade that had been blocking traffic to allow cars to enter. Suddenly one car speeded up and plowed through the street at high speed, said Pangilinan.
“Then we realized what was happening and everybody started yelling,” he told the CBC. “(The driver) just slammed the pedal down and rammed into hundreds of people. It was like seeing a bowling ball hit — all the bowling pins and all the pins flying up in the air.”
“It was like a war zone…. There were bodies all over the ground,” said Pangilinan, adding he saw “countless” people injured.
The Vancouver metro area is home for 173,000 people of Filipino descent. In the city limits, Filipinos make up about almost 6% of the total population.
The annual festival was a means celebrate their culltural heritage. The guest DJ was Filipino-American rapper Apl.de.ap of the Black Eyed Peas earlier in the day. Tthe festival was named after Lapu Lapu, a Filipino chieftain who had in the 1500s defeated the forces led by Ferdinand Magellan and his Spanish soldiers.
The Candadian province of British Columbia officially recognized April 27 as Lapu-Lapu Day in 2023, to acknowledge the cultural contributions of the Filipino Canadian community, one of the largest immigrant groups in the province.
Sunday, people began laying down flowers at the festival site.
RJ Aquino, the head of the Filipino BC organisation, said at a press conference Sunday that "last night was extremely difficult and the community will feel this for a long time."
"We know that there's a lot of questions floating about and we don't have all the answers, but we want to tell everybody that we're grieving," he added.
Police chief Rai said this is a dark day in Vancouver's history. "The actions of a single person shattered our collective sense of safety," he said. "It is impossible to overstate how many lives have been impacted forever by this lone individual."
FYI: A Google Doc has been created by a group of local members of the Filipino community, listing emergency response resources. The members are not associated with any organizations. That Google Doc can be accessed here. A Filipino Emergency Response website has been set up. This includes forms for support requests and a list of community spaces and gatherings. It also lists more resources. That can be accessed here.
EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X or at the blog Views From the Edge.
No comments:
Post a Comment