A nine-year-old boy has been left the only survivor of a Pakistan-origin Muslim family in an Islamophobic attack in Ontario. All of his kin was killed when the attacker drove a pick-up truck into a family of five.
The incident took place in the city of London in Ontario, Canada where 4 members of a single family were struck by a 20-year-old Jewish man. Police said a black pick-up truck mounted a curb and ran over the victims at an intersection on Sunday.
The victims include a woman aged 74 who died at the spot while a 44-year-old woman, a 46-year-old man and a 15-year-old girl were severely injured and rushed to the hospital.
They, however, also couldn’t survive and later succumbed to their injuries. Family members requested the names of the victims be withheld due to privacy reasons.
The sole survivor of the incident is a nine-year-old boy who is also in hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
The attacker, 20-year-old Nathaniel Veltman, has been arrested on suspicion of four counts of first-degree murder.
According to the initial investigation, he did not know the victims.
“This was an act of mass murder perpetrated against Muslims”It was rooted in unspeakable hatred. The magnitude of such hatred can make one question who we were as a city,” London Mayor Ed Holder said.
This Islamophobic attack in Canada which took place 3 years after the Quebec mosque shooting, has left waves of shock and anger across the country. A makeshift memorial for the victims was set up at the scene of the attack while many prominent figures condemned the incident.
“I’m horrified by the news from London, Ontario. To the loved ones of those who were terrorized by yesterday’s act of hatred, we are here for you,” Canadian PM Justin Trudeau tweeted.
The Prime Minister also announced his support for the 9 years old sole survivor and said he was here for the child who remains in hospital.
A crowdfunding campaign was also launched on Monday to support the nine-year-old boy who although non-fatally injured, is still under medical care. As of Monday evening, it raised more than US$117,000.
Racist attacks targeting Muslims are increasingly making the headlines as white supremacists become more efficient in realizing their criminal intentions. Last week Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had expressed serious concern over the spread of the “Islamophobia virus” in the West.
Turkey also announced to prepare annual reports on acts of Islamophobia and racism in western countries earlier this year.
The number of reported hate crimes targeting Muslims in Canada have more than tripled after 2015 despite the overall number of such crimes decreasing over the same period. The recent attack in Ontario can prove to be a litmus test for the Multicultural ideology of Canada.
While New Zealand’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern received worldwide praise for her response to the Christchurch mosque shootings, the world now looks towards “the prince charming” of world leaders, Justin Trudeau, who vows to put an end to the chain of Islamophobic attacks in his country.
Leave a Reply