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The suspect in a car-ramming attack that killed 11 people and injured dozens at a Filipino heritage festival in the Canadian city of Vancouver has been charged with eight counts of second degree murder, prosecutors have said.
More charges were possible against Kai-Ji Adam Lo, 30, the British Columbia prosecution service said. Investigators ruled out terrorism and said Lo had a history of mental health issues.
Lo, a Vancouver resident, appeared in court and remains in custody, prosecutors said.
Prime minister Mark Carney met with members of the Filipino community on Sunday in the wake of the tragic event, lighting candles and laying bouquets for the victims, including at a memorial near the scene of the attack.
Just two days ahead of a national election, Carney said the attack had left the country “shocked, devastated and heartbroken”. Vancouver’s police chief, Steve Rai, described the carnage as “the darkest day” in the city’s history and told reporters it was “impossible to overstate how many lives have been impacted for ever” by the lone driver.
Some of the injured were in critical condition. As of Sunday evening authorities had not released the names of those killed, but said they were aged between five and 65.
The attack occurred shortly after 8pm on Saturday, when a man drove a black Audi SUV down a street in the city, striking people attending the Lapu Lapu Day festival. He was arrested at the scene.
Video of the aftermath showed the dead and injured along the narrow street in South Vancouver lined by food trucks. The front of the driver’s SUV was heavily damaged.
The Lapu-Lapu festival, held on a warm spring day, drew nearly 100,000 people, many of whom were families with young children. The celebration is named after Datu Lapu-Lapu, an Indigenous resistance fighter in the Philippines, who orchestrated the defeat of the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in battle in 1521.
Saturday’s festival was the second annual event for the city and organisers advertised a street parade, artisans, cultural activities, a basketball tournament and local food vendors.
Carney, the Liberal party prime minister and former Bank of England governor who is favourite to win Monday’s election, paused campaigning to address the country on Sunday morning.
“Those families are living every family’s nightmare,” said a visibly emotional Carney. “I know that I join all Canadians in mourning with you. I know that Canadians are united with you.”
Carney referenced “Bayanihan”, the Filipino value of community serving those in need. “This spirit upon which we must draw in this incredibly difficult time. We will comfort the grieving. We will care for each other. We will unite in common purpose.”
Kris Pangilinan, who brought his pop-up clothing and lifestyle booth to the festival, saw the vehicle enter past the barricade slowly before the vehicle accelerated in an area that was packed with people after a concert. He said hearing the sounds of bodies hitting the vehicle will never leave him.
“And all I can remember is seeing bodies flying up in the air higher than the food trucks themselves and landing on the ground and people yelling and screaming. It looked like a bowling ball hitting bowling pins and all the pins are flying into the air.”
Carayn Nulada said that she pulled her granddaughter and grandson off the street and used her body to shield them from the SUV. She said that her daughter suffered a narrow escape.
“The car hit her arm and she fell down, but she got up, looking for us, because she is scared,” said Nulada, who described children screaming, and pale-faced victims lying on the ground or wedged under vehicles. “I saw people running and my daughter was shaking.”
Festival attenders held the suspect until police could arrive.
Video circulating on social media showed a young man in a hoodie with his back against a chain-link fence, alongside a security guard and surrounded by bystanders screaming and swearing at him.
Police set up a 24-hour assistance centre to help anyone who had been unable to contact relatives or friends who were at the festival.
Carney cancelled his first campaign event and two major rallies on the final day of the election campaign before Monday’s vote, which has been heavily influenced by the spectre of Donald Trump’s threats to annex Canada and a trade war he has launched against his country’s northern neighbour.
Vancouver had more than 38,600 residents of Filipino heritage in 2021, representing 5.9% of the city’s total population, according to Statistics Canada.
Associated Press contributed to this report
