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Toronto: Police are seen near a damaged van after a van mounted a sidewalk crashing into pedestrians in Toronto on 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. AP/PTI(AP4_24_2018_000062B)[/caption]
Toronto, April 24 (PTI/AFP): At least 10 people have died after a man plowed a white rental van into a crowd of pedestrians in Canada’s biggest city Toronto, in what police dubbed a “deliberate” attack.
The incident took place in broad daylight around 16 kilometers from a conference center hosting a meeting of G7 ministers, but officials said they had no evidence of a link to the event.
Ralph Goodale, the minister of public security, added that “on the basis of all available information at the present time, there would appear to be no national security connection to this particular incident.” “Horrible day in Toronto,” he had posted earlier on Twitter.
“Senseless violence takes heavy toll.” Police arrested a suspect at the scene -- who police identified later as 25-year-old Alek Minassian from a northern Toronto suburb -- of the attack, whose initial death toll of nine jumped to 10 after one person succumbed to injuries. Fifteen people remained in hospitals throughout the city, Saunders said, adding that local, provincial and federal investigators were probing the case.
At the scene, at least three bodies could be seen under orange sheets and a long stretch of road was sealed off with police incident tape. The suspect and a police officer faced off, their guns drawn. The suspect eventually surrendered his weapon and was taken into custody.
Vehicle attacks have been carried out to deadly effect by extremists in a number of capitals and major cities, including London, Paris, New York and Nice. Canada’s Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said the G7 meeting would continue as planned into Tuesday, with officials discussing ways to secure democratic societies from foreign interference.