Photo: The Canadian Press

Vancouver police secure the scene after a car drove into a crowd at the Lapu Lapu Festival in Vancouver on Saturday. Rich Lam/The Canadian Press/AP

UPDATE: 11:50 p.m.

A joyous celebration of Filipino culture ended in devastation Saturday, after a speeding SUV plowed into a crowd at Lapu Lapu Day in east Vancouver, killing multiple people and injuring many more.

The event was coming to a close, with many lingering when a vehicle suddenly drove into a pedestrian-only area along 43rd Avenue, revving past food trucks and striking a number of festival goers.

The driver of the SUV was taken into custody and was telling bystanders he was “sorry.” Sources say he appears to have been suffering from mental health issues.

Vancouver police said a driver crashed into the crowd at the popular Filipino festival around 8 p.m. The driver was taken into custody. Police did not say how many people had been killed or injured.

Police have said more information will be shared at a news conference scheduled for just after midnight.

Videos posted to social media show the immediate aftermath, with bodies strewn across the road, being tended to by first responders and bystanders. Victims were being rushed to several hospitals, where staff were told to prepare for mass casualties.

Yoseb Vardeh is the co-owner of food truck Bao Buns, which was stationed at the festival all day.

In a phone interview Saturday with Postmedia, Vardeh spoke through tears to describe what had been “an incredible day” that ended in shock and terror.

“I didn’t get to see the driver, all I heard was an engine rev. It didn’t make any sense to me because there’s still people here like, it sounded like a car speeding. It didn’t make any [expletive] sense,” he said.

“And then I look up and there’s people flying. It just happened so [expletive] fast.”

Vardeh said the final performer had just ended and that many food trucks, including his, had stayed late past the event’s closing time to serve the many last-minute customers who were still enjoying the evening.

It was then that the truck, according to Vardeh, came from the direction of the nearby high school, drove past a number of market vendors, and sped up before driving down 43rd Avenue, which had been turned into a pedestrian-only area flanked on both sides by food trucks.

“I got outside my food truck, I looked down the road and there’s just bodies everywhere,” said Vardeh, as his voice broke. “He went through the whole block, he went straight down the middle.”

Vardeh said he’s unsure how the truck was stopped but said he saw a man being arrested and that police worked quickly to cordon off the area. Vardeh said the man being arrested was telling bystanders to stop filming him.

Vardeh, who is half Filipino and was attending the festival for his second year, told his staff to pack up and go home.

“I didn’t break down until I got home to my family just five minutes ago,” he said. “This is something that happens in the States, not here.

“I saw so many people, and they just couldn’t believe what was happening. It was their wife, it was their mom, it was their kid,” he said. “All these people were shocked, walking around and they didn’t know what the [expletive] to do.

“I couldn’t help them. There’s nothing to do.”

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

Sim also passed on his condolences to the Filipino community.

“Our thoughts are with all those affected and with Vancouver’s Filipino community during this incredibly difficult time,” Sim said in his statement.

Vancouver Coun. Pete Fry, who was at the Lapu Lapu Day event earlier in the day, returned to the area when he heard what had happened. He told Postmedia that the day had been a fantastic one for the Filipino community and the Vancouver community in general and said he was shocked this happened.

“It’s just a horrific act of violence that has befallen this event and community,” he said.

Fry and fellow Coun. Sean Orr said normally the city parks dump trucks to block streets for city festivals. That didn’t happen today.

This was the second annual Lapu Lapu Day Block Party, held to celebrate Datu Lapu-Lapu, a 16th century indigenous leader in Mactan, Philippines. According to organizers “he is considered the first national hero of the Philippines, and his heroic legacy is deeply etched into the hearts of every Filipino. Lapu-Lapu was the first to rise against the tide of Spanish colonization, igniting a spark that would blaze brightly in the nation’s history.”

On April 27, 1521, Lapu-Lapu led a force of Visayan warriors and defeated the forces of Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan.

Photo: Jen Idaba-Castaneto

Witness Jen Idaba-Castaneto took a photo of the vehicle that drove through a Filipino festival crowd Saturday, killing multiple people and injuring others.

UPDATE: 10:15 p.m.

A number of people have been killed and multiple other people have been injured after a driver drove through a festival crowd on Saturday in Vancouver.

The Vancouver Police Department said the fatal incident occurred at East 41st Avenue and Fraser Street shortly after 8 p.m. Saturday.

A woman who was attending the festival said it was a heartbreaking scene.

"We’re all OK physically, but honestly, I’m still very shaken up,” Jen Idaba-Castaneto told Glacier Media. "I’m in shock and have been experiencing panic attacks after witnessing everything that happened.”

She said it was such a terrifying experience, something "I never imagined I would see, especially during what was supposed to be a joyful event for our community."

Social media posts show a heavy police presence on Fraser Street and East 43rd Street. Video shows multiple first responders surrounding an area and treating people.

VPD said the driver is in custody.

“We will provide more information as the investigation unfolds,” said a spokesperson.

Glacier Media has reached out to the Vancouver Police Department and BC Emergency Health Services and is awaiting a response.

Saturday marked the Lapu Lapu Day 2025 block party, featuring food and performers, for the Filipino community. The day is one of the biggest celebrations in the Philippines.

Shocked & heartbroken to hear of the lives lost & those injured at the Lapu Lapu festival. Police are investigating & a suspect is in custody. We are in contact with the City of Vancouver and will provide any support needed. My thoughts are with the victims and their loved ones. https://t.co/VJ5HU58m6f

— David Eby (@Dave_Eby) April 27, 2025

ORIGINAL: 9:45 p.m.

The Vancouver Police Department has confirmed that multiple people were killed and several others injured on Saturday night, after a vehicle plowed into a crowd near 41st Avenue and Fraser Street just before 8 p.m.

The incident occurred at the Lapu Lapu Day Block Party, a Filipino street festival.

At the Lapu Lapu Festival in Vancouver someone just drove his car into a crowd of people. This is horrible. I cannot believe this could happen in my neighbourhood.

— Coltin Benjamin Lillico (@ColtinLillico) April 27, 2025

Police say the driver is in custody.

More details to come...

– Madison Reeve