Truck running over family is hate crime directed at Muslims: Justin Trudeau

Members of the Muslim community and supporters gather for a vigil at London Muslim Mosque in Canada. Pic/AFP

A pickup truck attack that killed four members of an immigrant family has shaken Canada, a country where immigrants are largely accepted, and drew denunciations on Tuesday from Canada's prime minister, who called it a hate crime directed at Muslims.

The victims - two parents, two children and a grandmother - were on an evening walk when the driver of the truck struck them at an intersection in London, Ontario. The sole survivor was a 9-year-old boy, who was hospitalised.

"This was a terrorist attack, motivated by hatred, in the heart of one of our communities," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Parliament. "If anyone thinks racism and hatred don't exist in this country, I want to say this: How do we explain such violence to a child in a hospital? How can we look families in the eye and say ‘Islamophobia isn't real'?"

The victims' extended family issued a statement identifying the dead as Salman Afzal, 46; his wife Madiha, 44; their daughter Yumna, 15; and a 74-year-old grandmother whose name was withheld. The hospitalised boy was identified as the couple's son, Fayez. Friends said the family immigrated to Canada 14 years ago. Many Canadians have been enjoying evening walks to get fresh air after long days at home during the pandemic, Trudeau said.

"But unlike every other night, this family never made it home," Trudeau said. "Their lives were taken in a brutal, cowardly and brazen act of violence. This killing was no accident. ... Canadians are outraged by what happened on Sunday. And many Muslim Canadians are scared." Trudeau said words matter and in part blamed rhetoric, disinformation and extremism online and in politics.

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No. of years ago the family had migrated to Canada

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