A van struck multiple people at a major intersection in the northern part of Toronto, prompting authorities to close down a major intersection, police said.
TORONTO, April 23 (Reuters) – A white van struck multiple people at a major intersection inToronto’s northern suburbs on Monday and police have taken the driver into custody, police said on Twitter.
Police in Canada’s largest city initially said eight to 10 people had been injured but later said it was unclear exactly how many had been hurt or the extent of their injuries.
It was not immediately clear if the incident was a deliberate act by the driver or a traffic mishap.
« Too early to confirm the number of pedestrians struck or their injuries, » police said on Twitter.
Police were called just before 1:30 p.m. (1330 GMT) to the corner of Yonge Street and Finch Avenue in the north end of the city, where a van drove onto the sidewalk and hit multiple people, said Toronto Police spokeswoman Meaghan Gray. More from the scene:
The incident happened about 30 kms (18 miles) from downtown, where the Group of Seven foreign ministers of industrialized nations, including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK and US were meeting on Monday. There was no noticeable change in security around the Intercontinental Hotel where the ministers gathered.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said officials were investigating.
« We’re still gathering information and as soon as we can, we’ll share more information with Canadians, » Trudeau told reporters about an hour after news of the incident broke.
The United States and Europe have seen a string of deadly attacks in which vehicles were used to mow down pedestrians, including an Oct. 31 attack in New York that killed eight. (Reporting by Jim Finkle in Toronto Writing by Andrea Hopkins in Ottawa Editing by Scott Malone)
