Lapu Lapu Festival accident: Several injured after SUV drives into crowd in Vancouver

Multiple people were injured after a vehicle drove into a crowd at the Lapu Lapu Filipino Festival in Vancouver, Canada, on Saturday, according to the Vancouver Police Department (VPD). The driver is in custody. There have been casualties, authorities further confirmed.The attack took place at the street festival at E. 41st Avenue and Fraser just after 8 PM on Saturday.“A number of people have been killed and multiple others are injured after a driver drove into a crowd at a street festival at E. 41st Avenue and Fraser shortly after 8 p.m. tonight. The driver is in custody. We will provide more information as the investigation unfolds,” VPD said in a post on X, platform formerly known as Twitter.Read More: Donald Trump says he's ‘really not trolling’ about making Canada the 51st US stateMeanwhile, several videos from the scene surfaced on social media.New Democratic MP Don Davies tweeted about the ‘horrendous attack’, adding that he is ‘praying for all the victims and their families’.Read More: Canada’s Conservative collapse: Poilievre trails as Carney surgesWhat is the Lapu Lapu festival?The Lapu-Lapu Day Block Party in Vancouver is a street festival celebrating Filipino culture and honoring Datu Lapu-Lapu, the Philippines’ first national hero, an Indigenous Visayan chieftain who led the victory against Spanish colonizers in the 1521 Battle of Mactan. Recognized officially by British Columbia as Lapu-Lapu Day on April 27 since 2023, the event is organized by Filipino BC and the Sunset on Fraser Business Association in South Vancouver’s Sunset neighborhood, a culturally diverse area.The Lapu Lapu event is held at the John Oliver Secondary (East 41st Avenue) to East 49th Avenue, in the back parking lots west of Fraser Street, Vancouver.