The air at the makeshift memorial near 43rd Avenue and Fraser Street hangs heavy, thick with a grief Vancouver rarely knows. Bouquets of flowers wilt gently beside flickering candles, silent testaments to lives violently cut short. Here, where the vibrant sounds of a Lapu Lapu Day celebration turned to screams just days before, residents gather, their faces etched with sorrow, disbelief, and a dawning, painful resilience.
— Erez Linn ארז לין (@ErezHayom) April 28, 2025
The annual event, a cherished celebration of Filipino culture and community spirit, became the scene of unimaginable horror when a driver deliberately rammed an SUV into the crowd, leaving a trail of devastation. Initial reports spoke of 11 dead, a number that is likely to climb higher as many are as still hospitalized.
"It shocks us as a community because you just don't see this type of thing happen in Vancouver, let alone Canada," expressed one man standing near the memorial, his voice thick with emotion. Living just off Knight Street, he added, "It just hit so close to home... I'm still shaking honestly."
— Erez Linn ארז לין (@ErezHayom) April 28, 2025
The sentiment of disbelief echoes through the hushed conversations near the police tape. "Never thought something like would happen in Vancouver," stated an older man, who had attended the festival earlier in the day but left hours before the incident. "I wouldn't even think this would happen... I never even thought it would happen in Surrey, might as well here in Vancouver." His wife is Filipino, he noted, making the tragedy feel even more personal. "This has affected her."
For many, the day had started brightly. "It was sunny and everyone was just out here celebrating," the Knight Street resident recalled. "The atmosphere was just great, city-wide."
Crystal, who lives nearby on 39th Avenue, attended the festival earlier on Saturday but left around 3 p.m., five hours before the tragedy unfolded. "It was packed with people," she remembered. She only learned something was terribly wrong later that evening. "I went off from work at around 9:00 p.m... when I was about to get home, there were ambulance and police cars everywhere. So I wasn't aware yet of what happened, until I got home and saw it from my phone and from the news." Thankfully, her friends had also left early.
Another woman, who identifies as Filipino, had planned to attend with her husband and son but cancelled at the last minute because she wasn't feeling well – a decision that likely saved them. "Never thought in life... in million years for this to happen," she said, visibly shaken. Her nephew, who was present, left just moments before the chaos erupted and sent her horrifying messages and video. "[He described] people flying or like getting run over," she shared, relaying the graphic nature of the footage she received showing "people just laying on the ground, lifeless."
Eyewitness descriptions paint a terrifying picture of the moment the vehicle struck. One person described how the driver "plowed that way... plowed in that way to the end." Another simply recalled hearing the news: "Whoa, run over? That's not good."
The location itself has become a point of discussion. The woman who stayed home noted that the festival is often held in a nearby field. "Normally it's at a field over there... not on the street like this, 'cause a car can easily just drive by," she mused. "If there was a lot of like security, I think they would have prevented it from happening."
The impact reverberates beyond the Filipino community, touching all who value such gatherings. "It's not just the Filipino community, it's everyone who participated to celebrate community and togetherness," the Knight Street resident emphasized.
Amidst the sorrow, raw anger simmers for some. The older man who left the festival early expressed outrage, stating bluntly what he felt should have happened to the driver had he been apprehended by the crowd immediately. "I'm actually surprised the guy survived," he stated grimly.
At the memorial. Solemn silence. PM @MarkJCarney kneels for a long moment pic.twitter.com/nBdq9lHxLt
— Erez Linn ארז לין (@ErezHayom) April 28, 2025
"I'm just really devastated of what happened," murmured a young woman from the city of Port Moody, her heart going out to the affected families. Her connection, like many here, is tangential yet deeply felt – friends who work at the nearby hospitals, now dealing with the injured. "It does hit close to home because it impacts people around you."
For many Vancouverites, the scale and nature of the violence feel alien. "I think it's really shocking for Vancouver," the young woman added, acknowledging global conflicts but stressing the unprecedented nature of this event on home soil.
More from the makeshift memorial in Vancouver for the #FilipinoFestival tragedy pic.twitter.com/PELQkW5IXN
— Erez Linn ארז לין (@ErezHayom) April 27, 2025
Regina, a member of the Filipino community, recounted her own brush with fate. She had planned to attend the celebration after work but got engrossed watching Pope Francis' funeral Mass on television. "I got stuck watching the funeral," she recalled. "And then the next thing I saw is all those police cars and fire trucks... I got saved by the... watching by the Pope." Her relief is mingled with profound sorrow; her son, serving in the Canadian Armed Forces, frantically called, knowing her plans. Worse still, the mother of her son's military colleague, another Filipino woman who attended the event, was among the dead.
The memorial site is a tapestry of such near misses and tragic connections.
Somber moments at the Lapu Lapu tragedy memorial on Fraser and 41st pic.twitter.com/8eaQ87fDZ5
— Erez Linn ארז לין (@ErezHayom) April 29, 2025
Another woman shared that she and her family left the celebration just 20 minutes before the ramming occurred. Her friend's house faces the scene, his security camera capturing the horrifying moment the car accelerated. "My brother knows him," she said softly, referring to one of the young victims, a Grade 9 student from a local school. Her daughter-in-law works at BC Children's Hospital, where the youngest victim, a five-year-old, succumbed to their injuries. "This is this is tragic," she stated flatly.
Amidst the grief, questions and anger simmer. Details emerge about the driver's actions – blending in with departing vendors, making a slow U-turn before suddenly accelerating to high speed. "He planned it," a woman insisted, her voice hardening. "He he made a move... find me a position to accelerate the vehicle. And it's evil."
Concerns about security linger. While barricades were present, witnesses suggest volunteers may have lifted them to allow vendors to leave, unwittingly creating an opening. "There was not like one [security guard] the whole like area, which is weird because they usually have at least some security at places," noted the young woman whose friend's camera captured the incident.
Daisy, another mourner, arrived visibly shaken. Her daughter's best friend, a single mother with two young boys, was fighting for her life in the ICU. "Oh my gosh," she sobbed after getting a text updating her from the hospital. Daisy herself had narrowly avoided the tragedy, cancelling plans to attend last minute due to parking concerns, her grandchildren, and an inexplicable "small voice" telling her not to go because she had a lot of plants in the back of her truck and wanted to deal with them.
Like others, Daisy grappled with the brutality, having seen unreleased, graphic footage shared within the community. "It's like a horror movie," she whispered, describing scenes far more horrific than public reports. "This is not Vancouver." As a single mother herself, she felt a deep connection to the victims, particularly the young mother now lost.
The tragedy has pierced the heart of a multicultural celebration. "This is not only Filipino event," Daisy emphasized. "They bring their friends and family... it's across multicultural."
In the face of such profound loss, the community response is beginning to take shape. Calls for blood donations echo through the city, with hospitals treating the critically injured. Fundraising efforts are underway. Prime Minister Mark Carney paid respects a day before Canadians went to the polls. Carney's silent kneeling presence at the memorial deeply moving onlookers. Carney arrived at the scene a day after the tragedy, after stopping his campaign and cancelling the rally that was supposed to take place in the city. His rival, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre did not visit the site, and stayed in the east and held more rallies. Perhaps this helped Carney seal the deal get the voters' backing on Election Day: The Liberals won big, and once the outstanding votes are fully tallied may even get an outright majority.
More from the makeshift memorial in Vancouver for the #FilipinoFestival tragedy pic.twitter.com/PELQkW5IXN
— Erez Linn ארז לין (@ErezHayom) April 27, 2025
But beyond the immediate needs, there's a palpable sense of a community trying to process the unthinkable. "It's just really hard," Daisy admitted, reflecting the collective sentiment. She urged people to seek support. "Reach out... people should open up because it's not good to keep it. Just talk to somebody."
A Port Moody resident in her 20s made the journey by bus to downtown Vancouver yesterday to lay flowers at the memorial site where 11 people lost their lives during the Lapu Lapu festival. "I'm just really devastated by what happened and my heart goes out to all the family members who were affected," she told Israel Hayom, visibly emotional as she placed her floral tribute alongside hundreds of others that have accumulated since the tragedy. Despite not knowing any of the victims personally, she explained, "I know some people who work at the hospital and who might have to deal with the patients that were impacted. It just hits close to home because it impacts people I know."
When asked about how Vancouver residents are coping with such unprecedented violence, the young woman reflected on the shock felt throughout the region. "It's really shocking for Vancouver but this kind of thing has happened around the world before," she said, placing the incident in a broader global context. "There's also a lot of wars happening in Gaza or Ukraine. We've been seeing a lot of death recently from online social media, so I think that makes it a bit less shocking—but still, in Vancouver, nothing like this has happened before."
As more candles are lit against the fading light, the memorial stands as a testament to shattered peace but also to burgeoning solidarity. Vancouver, a city often seen as an exemplar of harmony, now faces a long road of healing, remembrance, and reckoning, forever changed by a day of celebration that ended in unimaginable sorrow.
