Man Charged with 8 Counts of Murder for Festival Tragedy

Rai addressing the media with Sim (left) this afternoon

Overnight news of the horrific tragedy of the vehicle that plowed into people attending a Filipino street party in Vancouver spread around the world. 

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said he was "shattered to hear about the terrible incident."

Even King Charles sent condolences via a social media post.

The damaged SUV at the scene of attack

"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 wrote.

Some people in Vancouver woke up to the news this morning, and the shock, sadness and disbelief happened all over again.

Finally there were some numbers -- in the morning it was reported nine people had died, over a dozen injured.

Then at 2pm there was another press conference, this time with Mayor Ken Sim -- dressed in a black suit -- giving a heartfelt speech conveying his sadness and anger over what happened last night and has asked for a full investigation.

It was good to see him step up and finally act like a mayor. Following the by-election a few weeks ago when his ABC party was hammered, Sim realises he needs to actually do his job. If he takes this opportunity to show that he is performing his mayoral duties properly, residents may actually cut him some slack; but he's going to have to work really hard for forgiveness.

At that same press conference Interim Police Chief Steve Rai disclosed only a sliver more of information, that the now 11 deceased ranged in age from five to 65, and that 17 people are still in hospital.

Rai also confirmed the driver of the vehicle was very well known to police and mental health workers.

Lo charged this afternoon, appeared in court

Later in the afternoon news broke that 30-year-old Kai-Ji Adam Lo was charged with eight counts of second-degree murder in relation to the crash at the Lapu Lapu Festival. There are still a lot of questions around security of the festival, though Rai said a risk assessment was made with festival organisers that it didn't require more security like other events.

However, following this tragedy, the police will have to re-examine how they conduct these risk assessments and if police need to attend every single event held in the city. There are also questions why someone with mental health issues and well-known to police, did not get the help he needed, and why he was still able to drive a car. In this case an SUV.

Witnesses came out in the media to give first-hand accounts of what they saw and heard last night. It sounds absolutely horrific, some hearing boom, boom, boom, and later realising it was the sound of the car hitting people, others who had set up stalls at the festival, were cleaning up and leaving when they saw bodies on the ground. They are completely traumatised.

One admitted that whenever he sees groups of people he is terrified and hears the sounds and remember the images he saw.

But Lo, the driver who is charged with eight counts of second-degree murder, has a troubled past. Last year his older brother was murdered and turned to the public for money to pay for the funeral. And then his mother tried to commit suicide and she spent a month in hospital.

Today Lo appeared briefly in court, did not request bail and will remain in custody until his next court appearance on May 26 in Vancouver provincial court.