The Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver on Sunday expressed deep concern and sympathies following a deadly car-ramming incident at a Filipino community festival in Vancouver, Canada.
In a statement on Facebook, the Consulate urged the Filipino community in Vancouver to remain strong and pray for the victims of the said incident, which left several people dead and others injured.
“The Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver expresses its deep concern and sympathies to the victims of the horrific incident at the Lapu Lapu Day Block Party today,” the Consulate said.
“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,” it added.
Earlier in the day, Canadian police arrested a man on Saturday after a car plowed into a street party in the western city of Vancouver, killing a number of people.
Authorities said the incident happened shortly after 8:00 p.m. (0300 GMT Sunday) in Vancouver's Sunset on Fraser neighborhood, as members of the Filipino community gathered to celebrate Lapu Lapu Day.
The festival, which commemorates a Filipino anti-colonial leader from the 16th century, falls this year on the weekend before Canada's election.
A 30-year-old local man was arrested at the scene, Vancouver police posted on X.
The driver was a "lone suspect" known to police, a police spokesperson told journalists at the scene.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said he was "devastated" by the "horrific events."
"I offer my deepest condolences to the loved ones of those killed and injured, to the Filipino Canadian community, and to everyone in Vancouver," he wrote on X.
'We are all mourning with you'
According to police, "a number of people have been killed and multiple others are injured" in the tragedy.
Footage posted online and verified by AFP shows a black SUV with a damaged hood parked on a street littered with debris, meters from first aiders tending to people lying on the ground.
Photos published by Canadian broadcaster CBC showed emergency crews at the scene, as well as large crowds at the block party earlier Saturday.
Festival security guard Jen Idaba-Castaneto told local news site Vancouver Is Awesome that she saw "bodies everywhere."
"You don't know who to help, here or there," she said.
British Columbia Premier David Eby said he was "shocked & heartbroken" by the news, while city Mayor Ken Sim said "our thoughts are with all those affected and with Vancouver's Filipino community during this incredibly difficult time." - with reports from Agence France-Presse