PH sends condolences to kin of Canada van rampage victims

A van with a damaged front-end sits idle on a sidewalk after the driver drove down a sidewalk crashing into a number of pedestrians in Toronto, Monday, April 23, 2018. The van apparently jumped a curb Monday in a busy intersection in Toronto and struck the pedestrians and fled the scene before it was found and the driver was taken into custody, Canadian police said. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

The Philippine government has expressed sympathy on Tuesday for the victims of a van attack in Canada that left at least 10 dead and 16 others injured.

In a statement issued in the wake of the tragedy, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said he was hoping for the speedy recovery of those injured.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Canada. We mourn with the families of those who lost their lives in this tragedy,” Cayetano said.

According to a report by Agence France-Presse, a man drove his white rental van into a crowd of pedestrians on a busy sidewalk in Toronto, Canada’s biggest city. Canadian authorities were verifying whether the attack was deliberate or not.

READ: 9 killed as van plows into Toronto crowd

Philippine Ambassador to Canada Petronila Garcia said the incident took place in one of Toronto’s busiest thoroughfares when a man plowed his van into a sidewalk and started mowing people down at around 1:30 p.m. (local Toronto time) on Monday.

No Filipinos were involved in the incident, the Philippine Embassy in Ottawa reported. The Philippine Consulate General in Toronto was also coordinating with authorities and members of the 270,000-strong Filipino Community, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.   /muf