Canada Paying Final Homage To Family Killed In Truck Attack

The city of London, Ontario paid homage Saturday to a Muslim family deliberately mowed down by the driver of a pick-up truck, in an attack that has shocked Canadians and which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau denounced as "terrorist."

London, Canada, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Jun, 2021 ) :The city of London, Ontario paid homage Saturday to a Muslim family deliberately mowed down by the driver of a pick-up truck, in an attack that has shocked Canadians and which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau denounced as "terrorist." Four members of the Afzaal family -- a man and his wife, their teenage daughter and his mother -- were out for a walk in their London neighborhood Sunday when a 20-year-old man in a black pickup truck drove into them on purpose, according to authorities.

A fifth family member, a nine-year-old boy, was seriously injured but is recovering.

Funeral services for Salman Afzaal, 46, his wife Madiha, 44, their daughter Yumna, 15 and Salman's mother Talat, 74, are set for early Saturday afternoon in the London Islamic center.

A ceremony open to the public is planned on a nearby football field.

The burial will be private, but people are being encouraged to line up along the route of the funeral cortege in solidarity with the victims of the attack, which has badly shaken the Muslim community and other Canadians as well.

Those taking part are urged to wear either green ribbons, to denounce Islamophobia, or mauve ones, the favorite color of young Yumna.

Numerous vigils and solemn commemorations have taken place across Canada in recent days, and on Friday several thousand people joined in an ecumenical walk through the streets of London, which is home to some 30,000 Muslims.

Many bore posters reading "We are all human" or "Hate kills."People also paid homage Friday in Quebec City, where a January 2017 mosque shooting claimed six lives.

The latest attack has fueled debate about the prevalence of Islamophobia in Canada and, within the Muslim community, has heightened fears that displaying outward signs of religious affiliation can make a person a target.