‘Darkest day in our city’s history’: Vancouver death toll climbs to 11

Police would not divulge details about the suspect on Sunday other than to say he was a Vancouver resident and had substantial contact with police related to mental health issues. His exact motives, and whether the attack could have been prevented, remained unanswered questions, Rai said.

Prime Minister Mark Carney was expected to change his plans on the final full day of campaigning and head to the Vancouver province of British Columbia, while Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre and his wife attended a Filipino church on Sunday morning, local time, to express their condolences for those in mourning.

“All of them will have a deep hole in their hearts today, and we will try and fill it with the love of the entire country,” Poilievre said.

Carney offered his deepest condolences to families of the deceased, who were “living every family’s nightmare”.

Jagmeet Singh, leader of the progressive New Democratic Party, cancelled campaign events on Sunday. He had attended the festival and left the site only minutes before the attack.

“There was kids there, there was families there, and I met them. They were so full of joy,” he said.

Witnesses recounted the sound of the bodies being struck and sideswiped by the SUV. A shop assistant who was at work on the street during the incident told Canada’s Globe and Mail the vehicle charged down the street, with people screaming and running to help, while others stood frozen in shock.

“We just see him go full speed through a bunch of people. I saw a bunch of people go high up from the impact of hitting the car,” Nic Magtajs said. “Pure mayhem as soon as it happened. It was so loud … A lot of loud bangs, not to mention the engine.”

One witness told CTV News he saw a black vehicle driving erratically in the area of the festival just before the crowd was struck.

Rai said most of the festival took place within the safe confines of the school, and there had been no threats to the event. However, the tragedy would lead to changes to police protocols.

“This will change the landscape for deployment of police going forward,” he said. “This will be a watershed moment for everyone involved at the city.”

The updated death toll exceeds the 10 people who were killed when a 25-year-old man ploughed through a crowded Toronto footpath in 2018. In that case, the man pleaded guilty and told police he belonged to an online community of sexually frustrated men, some of whom have plotted attacks on people who have sex.

The tragedy has cast a pall over the final 48 hours of campaigning in an extraordinary election that has been shaped by the tariffs and threats of US President Donald Trump. Carney, who replaced the deeply unpopular Justin Trudeau as prime minister, is a central bank governor who has never held a seat in parliament.

He is expected to lead the centre-left Liberal Party to a fourth term on Monday (Tuesday AEST), with polls showing more Canadians back him to take on Trump than Poilievre, a career politician and conservative who was previously described as a Trump-lite figure.

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King Charles said he and Camilla were deeply saddened by the “dreadful attack and utterly tragic loss of life”.

“Our hearts and prayers go out to all those whose lives have been shattered by such a desperate tragedy and we send our deepest possible sympathy at a most agonising time for so many in Canada,” he said.

with AP, Reuters

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