A CAR struck revellers at a street festival in the Canadian city of Vancouver at the weekend, killing and injuring an unknown number of people at the event celebrating Filipino culture.

The vehicle entered the street where people were attending the Lapu Lapu Day festival at 8.14pm on Saturday, the Vancouver Police Department said in a social media post.

“A number of people have been killed and multiple others are injured after a driver drove into a crowd,” police said. The exact number of casualties was not immediately available.

A 30-year-old Vancouver man was arrested at the scene in a southern district of the city and the department’s major crime section is overseeing the investigation, police said.

“At this time, we are confident that this incident was not an act of terrorism,” the police department posted early yesterday.

Video posted on social media showed victims and debris strewn across a long stretch of road, with at least seven people lying immobile on the ground.

A black SUV with a crumpled front section could be seen in still photos from the scene.

Local business owner James Cruzat, who was at the event, said he had heard a car rev its engine and then “a loud noise, like a loud bang” that he initially thought might be a gunshot.

“We saw people on the road crying, others were like running, shouting or even screaming, asking for help. So we tried to go there just to check what was really actually happening until we found some bodies on the ground. Others were lifeless, others injured,” Mr Cruzat said.

“It was terrible to see that kind of incident, that situation. It was heartbreaking.

“I couldn’t even imagine that it’s actually happening in real life, because normally we see that on TV or movies. But when you are in that kind of situation, it was really shocking ... You couldn’t do anything but to pray for them.”

Vancouver Mayor Kenneth Sim said in a social media post that the city would provide more information when possible.

“I am shocked and deeply saddened by the horrific incident at today’s Lapu Lapu Day event,” Mr Sim said. “Our thoughts are with all those affected and with Vancouver’s Filipino community during this incredibly difficult time.”

Vancouver had more than 38,600 residents of Filipino heritage in 2021, representing 5.9 per cent of the city’s total population, according to Statistics Canada, the agency that conducts the national census.

Lapu Lapu Day celebrates Datu Lapu-Lapu, an Indigenous chieftain who stood up to Spanish explorers who came to the Philippines in the 16th century.

The organisers of the Vancouver event said he “represents the soul of native resistance, a powerful force that helped shape the Filipino identity in the face of colonisation.”