Several people were killed when a driver ploughed a car into a crowd at a street festival on Saturday in the Canadian city of Vancouver, local police said.

“A number of people have been killed and multiple others are injured,” Vancouver police posted online. “The driver is in custody.”

One witness told CTV News he saw a black vehicle driving erratically in the area of the festival just before the crowd was struck. The Vancouver Sun said thousands of people had been in the area.

“I didn’t get to see the driver, all I heard was an engine rev,” said Yoseb Vardeh, a food truck operator, in an interview with Postmedia.

“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.”

The incident happened shortly after 8pm near East 41st Avenue and Fraser Street as members of the Filipino community gathered to celebrate Lapu Lapu Day, said the Vancouver mayor, Ken Sim.

The festival commemorates a Filipino anti-colonial leader from the 16th century.

Police said the incident happened shortly after 8pm Saturday local time in the city’s Sunset on Fraser neighbourhood.

“Our thoughts are with all those affected and with Vancouver’s Filipino community during this incredibly difficult time,” Sim wrote.

The Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, said: “I am devastated to hear about the horrific events at the Lapu Lapu festival in Vancouver earlier this evening. We are all mourning with you.”