Eleven killed in Vancouver after vehicle ploughs into crowd at street festival

Police have ruled out crash was act of terrorism

Police work at the scene of Vancouver's Lapu Lapu Day Block Party after the tragedy in which nine people died. Reuters

At least 11 people were killed and several injured in Vancouver on Saturday night when a motorist drove into a crowd at a Filipino street festival in the western Canadian city, police have said.

The incident happened on Saturday evening at Vancouver's Lapu Lapu Day Block Party, which commemorates an anti-colonial Filipino leader from the 16th century.

The driver is in custody and police have ruled out the crash being an act of terrorism, saying the suspect has a history of mental health issues.

Video posted on social media showed victims and debris strewn across a stretch of road, with at least seven people lying immobile on the ground. A black SUV with a crumpled front section could be seen in photos.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said in remarks on Sunday that the incident had left Canadians "shocked, devastated and heartbroken". He offered affected families his "deepest condolences" as well as his wishes for "strength and compassion at this tragic time".

Vancouver's mayor Ken Sim and British Columbia premier David Eby posted similar comments.

“I am shocked and deeply saddened by the horrific incident at today’s Lapu Lapu Day event,” Mr Sim said. “Our thoughts are with all those affected and with Vancouver’s Filipino community during this incredibly difficult time."

A victim covered with a cloth lies near a food truck after a car drove into the crowd at the Lapu Lapu Festival in Vancouver. AP

One witness told Canadian network CTV News he saw a black vehicle driving erratically in the area just before the incident.

Jagmeet Singh, leader of Canada's New Democratic Party, was at the event but left minutes before the vehicle arrived, CTV said.

"This is so horrific, I don’t even know what to say," CTV quoted Mr Singh as saying. "I was just there and I just imagine the faces of the kids that I saw smiling and dancing."

Canada's Vancouver Sun newspaper said thousands of people had been in the area at the time. The nation's federal election takes place on Monday.

"I didn’t get to see the driver, all I heard was an engine rev," Yoseb Vardeh, co-owner of a nearby food truck named Bao Buns, said in an interview with Canada's Postmedia.

"I got outside my food truck, I looked down the road and there’s just bodies everywhere,” he added. "He went through the whole block, he went straight down the middle.”

The Filipino festival featured a parade, a film screening, dancing and a concert, with two members of the Black Eyed Peas featured on the line-up published by the organisers.

Lapu Lapu Day is celebrated in the Philippines in remembrance of Indigenous chief Lapulapu, who led his men to defeat Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in battle in 1521.

Saturday's deadly incident comes a year after Nathaniel Veltman was sentenced to life in prison for running down a Muslim family with his truck on the street in Ontario in 2021. The ruling in Mr Veltman's case was the first in Canada to link white supremacy and terrorism in a murder case.

Canadians go to the polls on Monday after a frenetic election race in which candidates have wooed voters on issues including rising living costs and tackling US President Donald Trump's tariffs.

Mr Carney is favoured to win after assuring voters he can stand up to Washington's barrage of sweeping tariffs.