Death toll rises after driver plows through crowd in Vancouver

April 27 (UPI) -- The decease toll roseate to 11 by Sunday day aft a operator plowed done a assemblage astatine a thoroughfare festival successful the Canadian metropolis of Vancouver precocious Saturday night, constabulary said.

"This is the darkest time successful our metropolis history," interim Vancouver Police Chief Steve Rai said astatine a live-streamed quality league Sunday afternoon.

"The actions of a azygous idiosyncratic shattered our corporate consciousness of safety. It is intolerable to overstate however galore lives person been impacted everlastingly by this lone individual."

Initially, 9 radical had been confirmed dormant aft a antheral drove done a assemblage astatine past night's Lapu Lapu Festival, the Vancouver Police Department said successful a connection connected societal media.

The driver, a 30-year-old antheral who has not been officially named, drove his achromatic Audi SUV done the Lapu Lapu Festival astir 8 p.m. connected Saturday and was taken into custody.

"At this time, we are assured that this incidental was not an enactment of terrorism," constabulary said successful an earlier connection Sunday.

At the day quality conference, Rai clarified that the incidental was a "crime" portion their motive remains unclear.

The Lapu Lapu Festival is simply a Filipino artifact enactment that honors Lapu-Lapu, the chieftain who led autochthonal forces successful the decision of Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan astatine the Battle of Mactan successful 1521, marking the archetypal enactment of Filipino absorption to colonization.

The Philippine Consulate General successful Vancouver has acceptable up a hotline for affected nationals and called the incidental "horrific" portion it was awaiting much accusation connected what occurred.

Phillipine President Ferdinand "Bongbong Marcos expressed his sympathies to the families of the victims of the incidental and the "thriving Filipino assemblage successful Canada," according to the Philippine Star newspaper.

"We are 1 with the families of the victims and the Filipino assemblage successful Vancouver during this hard time," helium said.

With coercion ruled out, the origin of the incidental remains unclear. It was not instantly known Sunday what charges the operator whitethorn face.