Yoseb Vardeh is the co-owner of the food truck Bao Buns, which had been stationed at the festival all day.
In a phone interview late Saturday, Vardeh spoke through tears to describe what had been “an incredible day” that ended in shock and terror.
“I didn’t get to see the driver, all I heard was an engine rev. It didn’t make any sense to me because there’s still people here, like, it sounded like a car speeding. It didn’t make any f—ing sense,” he said.
“And then I look up and there’s people flying. It just happened so f—ing fast.”
Vancouver police investigate a crime scene after a man drove into pedestrians at the annual Lapu Lapu festival celebrating Filipino culture, at East 43rd Avenue and Fraser, in the south of Vancouver on April 26, 2025. Photo by DON MACKINNON/AFP via Getty Images)
Vardeh said the final performance had just ended and that many food trucks, including his, had stayed past the event’s closing time to serve last-minute customers who were still enjoying the evening.
It was then that the truck, according to Vardeh, came from the direction of nearby John Oliver Secondary School, drove past a number of market vendors, and speeded up before driving down 43rd Avenue, which had been turned into a pedestrian-only area flanked on both sides by food trucks.
“I got outside my food truck, I looked down the road and there’s just bodies everywhere,” said Vardeh, as his voice broke. “He went through the whole block, he went straight down the middle.”
Vardeh said he’s unsure how the truck was stopped but said he saw a man being arrested and that police worked quickly to cordon off the area. Vardeh said the man was telling bystanders to stop filming him.
Multiple people were killed and more injured after this black SUV sped through crowds at the Lapu Lapu Day Block Party in Vancouver, B.C. near East 43rd and Fraser on Saturday, April 26, 2025. Photo by SUBMITTED / POSTMEDIA
Vardeh, who is half Filipino and was attending the festival for his second year, told his staff to pack up and go home.
“I didn’t break down until I got home to my family just five minutes ago,” he said. “This is something that happens in the States, not here.
“I saw so many people, and they just couldn’t believe what was happening. It was their wife, it was their mom, it was their kid,” he said. “All these people were shocked, walking around and they didn’t know what the f— to do.
“I couldn’t help them. There’s nothing to do.”
The scene around Fraser Street and 41st Avenue after someone drove into a crowd of people at Lapu Lapu Day in Vancouver on Saturday, April 26, 2025. Photo by Kim Bolan /PNG
Another woman who didn’t want to be identified said she was at the festival doing cleanup and helping fold tents when she got a panicked call from her daughter.
“She said, ‘Mom, you have to hide. Someone is driving and trying to run over a lot of people.’”
She saw some people run north toward John Oliver Secondary and headed that way. On the street behind the school, she saw a scene of horror.
