Nine killed as Toronto van driver goes on the rampage
Streets are turned into a ‘war zone’ after vehicle mounts the kerb and ‘hits people one by one’
NINE people were killed and 16 injured yesterday afternoon after a van driver mounted a kerb and hit pedestrians in Toronto.
Witnesses described seeing the vehicle swerve to deliberately hit victims, leaving a baby stroller “split in half” and hitting people sitting on a bench.
Five of the injured were in a critical condition and two more were described as “serious” at the Canadian city’s Sunnybrook Hospital.
The suspect was named by local media, citing police sources, as Alek Minassian, a 25-year-old student. He was in custody last night.
John Tory, the city’s mayor, appealed for calm in the aftermath as he praised the “professionalism” and “thoroughness” of the emergency services.
Ralph Goodale, Canada’s public safety minister, declined to comment on what may have motivated the attack. It was not clear yesterday if there was a terrorist motive. He said: “The police are conducting their investigation to determine what happened.”
Numerous body bags were seen in the street, according to witnesses, with one describing the scene as like a “war zone”.
A police spokesman also said it was too early to discuss motives.
The incident occurred in Yonge Street and Finch Avenue area of the city, 18 miles north of the city centre.
Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, was attending a meeting of G7 ministers in the city, but the gathering was not near the site of the incident. Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, said: “Our thoughts are with all those affected by the terrible incident. Thank you to the first responders working at the scene – we’re monitoring the situation closely.”
Officials asked businesses in the area to close early in order for police to continue their “complex” investigation.
Peter Yuen, Toronto Police’s acting chief, said: “We have located the vehicle, the driver is in custody right now and he is being investigated.
“We can confirm right now that nine people are dead, 16 injured.”
Mark Saunders, the city’s police chief, who was in New York at the time, travelled back to Toronto last night to oversee the investigation.
Claudia Panfil, a spokesman for Ryder Systems, confirmed that one of the company’s rental vehicles was involved in the tragedy and they were cooperating with authorities.
Henry Miller, who lives in an apartment overlooking the street, told Sky News he saw from his balcony “a lady lying on the floor and the van driving off with people running around trying to help her”.
He said the white van “[sped] probably 60-70mph down this major road, swerving to what I would say fairly deliberately hit pedestrians and swerving in and out of traffic before eventually careering off into one of the other side streets and out of view”.
Kash Alavi described seeing victims with faces “full of blood”, telling CNN that the legs of those hit had been “twisted and contorted”.
Another witness said: “He’s just hitting people one by one by one. It was a nightmare.”
He said he saw a baby stroller “split in half ” and that what he had witnessed was like “a war zone”.