A five-year-old child is among 11 people dead after a car ploughed into a Vancouver festival crowd and hit victims “like bowling pins.”
Suspect Kai-Ji Adam Lo, 30, has been charged with eight counts of second degree murder, although police expect “further charges are anticipated.” The “lone suspect” was arrested shortly after the horrific incident on Saturday where he is accused of driving into the crowd at the Lapu Lapu festival in Vancouver, Canada.
Investigators ruled out terrorism in what Interim Police Chief Steve Rai proclaimed “the darkest day in Vancouver’s history.” Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim said the suspect has a “significant history of mental health issues.”
Vancouver Police later said in a statement: “The BC Prosecution Service has now charged Kai-Ji Adam Lo, 30, with eight counts of second degree murder.
“Lo, a Vancouver resident, has appeared in court and remains in custody. The charge assessment is ongoing and further charges are anticipated.”
The horrifying incident happened at around 8pm local time, killing at least 11 and injuring dozens more.
Clothing vendor Kris Pangilinan recalled hearing what sounded “like an F1 car about to start a race,” followed immediately by screams. He said he will never forget the sound of bodies hitting the hood of the black Audi SUV as it rammed into the crowd.
“All I can remember is seeing bodies flying up in the air higher than the food trucks themselves and landing on the ground and people yelling and screaming,” Pangilinan said. “It looked like a bowling ball hitting bowling pins and all the pins are flying into the air.”
Adonis Quita pulled his 9-year-old son out of the way as the SUV plowed into the line of families waiting for their food.
Vincent Reynon, 17, was leaving the festival with his girlfriend after 8 p.m. when he saw fire trucks and police officers rushing to where the festival was being held. They decided to circle back to see what was going on. He said they saw people crying as they approached, then bodies on the ground when they arrived at the scene.
“It was horrible to see,” Reynon said. “It was like something straight out of a horror movie or a nightmare.”
The victims range in age from 5 to 65, Rai said. Bodies covered in white tarps lined the row of food trucks as ambulances rushed injured people to the hospital.
Lorena Sales, 17, similarly ran back to the festival from the bus stop when she saw ambulances rushing to the scene. She and her friends arrived to find a sea of bodies in the street. The image of a woman who had her skull crushed in the collision is burned into Sales’ memory, she said.
“Those families are living every family’s nightmare,” Prime Minister Mark Carney said. The car ramming occurred two days before the country’s federal election Monday.
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