Filipinos feared dead, scores injured in Vancouver

Police arrest SUV driver who plowed into street festival crowd

- BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS and RAYMUND ANTONIO

Multiple people are feared dead and scores injured after a driver plowed his car into a crowd of revelers, most of them Filipinos, at a street festival in Canada, police said.

The Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver, in a statement, expressed its deep concern and sympathies to the victims of the horrific incident at the Lapu Lapu Day Block Party.

"As we await more information about the incident, we pray that our community remains strong and resilient imbued with the spirit of bayanihan during this difficult time."

The vehicle entered the street at 8:14 p.m. Saturday where people were attending the Lapu Lapu Day festival, the Vancouver Police Department said in a social media post.

"A number of people have been killed and multiple others are injured after a driver drove into a crowd," police said. The exact number of dead or injured was not immediately available.

Vancouver Police interim chief Steve Rai would not give the exact number of the victims saying it would be "unfair" to give more precise figures as families are still being informed.

A 30-year-old Vancouver man was arrested at the scene and the department's Major Crime Section is overseeing the investigation, police said.

"At this time, we are confident that this incident was not an act of terrorism," the police department posted early Sunday.

The festival was being held in a South Vancouver neighborhood.