Facebook Anne Marie D'Amico.
The first of the 10 Toronto attack victims was named as Anne Marie D’Amico, an employee at Invesco investment management firm. Dorothy Sewell, an 80-year-old Blue Jays fan, and Chul Kang, a chef, were among those killed in the attack.
This post will be updated to contain biographies and photos of each of the victims as they are named. You can learn more about the victims below. Two Korean nationals were also reported to be among the dead.
Ten people were killed and 15 lay injured after a van rammed into pedestrians along a busy street in Toronto, Canada on April 23, 2018. The suspect has been identified as Alek Minassian, although the motive remains unclear.
First Toronto van attack victim ID’d as woman who worked in investment management t.co/PLlMOkCei5
Witnesses described a horrific scene in which the van leaped over a curb and mowed down people while traveling at a fast pace. Witness Christian Ali told CNN “he first saw a man unconscious at the side of the road and figured it was a terrible accident after also noticing debris from a car.”
“Two blocks over, I saw another gentleman unconscious in the middle of the road and a policeman leaning over him holding his neck,” Ali said to CNN. Photos of the aftermath showed tarp-covered bodies strewn along the roadway, a scene that has become all too family as van ramming incidents took lives in European cities like London, Nice, and Barcelona over recent years.
Thus far, however, authorities in Canada do not suspect that the Toronto attack suspect, Alek Minassian, is tied to ISIS or an organized terror group, although the investigation is pending. A GoFundMe page has been set up to raise money for the victims’ funeral expenses. Islamic Relief Canada has also established a fundraiser to help the victims’ families.
Among those not fatally injured were three Koreans, one with serious injuries.
Here are the victims identified so far:
Anne Marie D’Amico
Anne Marie D’Amico
Anne Marie D’Amico, the first victim, was named on April 24, 2018. Her company is located on the street where the attack occurred, and she was remembered as being full of life.
On her Facebook page, she also wrote that she worked at Live Different, worked at the Badminton and Racquet Club of Toronto, and studied at Ryerson University.
Her last publicly available post on Facebook was from 2013. It read, “And God said let their be light on the Superbowl game…” She also wrote about going to Jamaica: “I’m leaving, on a jet plane again. Jamaica! We got a bobsled team! Rum, here I come.”
In 2010, she wrote about appearing in a talent competition: “Here I am at the Ram, on a Wednesday night about to perform the talent portion of the Mr./Ms. Ryerson Competition. Talent: Singing the ABCs backwards, while breaking boards. Apparently it was a lethal combination. What you don’t see in the video was my first board breaking (P for punch) where the board flew out of Arzan’s hand and into the audience. I’m still not sure if anyone was hurt during this filming. Pay attention to the audience’s applause before and after my talent.”
FacebookAnne-Marie D’Amico
A post on a remembrance page for D’Amico reads, “The D’Amico Family thanks everyone for the words, love and support during this time. Anne Marie was a victim in the van attack in Toronto, yesterday afternoon.”
Dorothy Sewell
80-year-old grandmother Dorothy Sewell identified as one of the victims of the van attack in Toronto t.co/YL0Himrs5J
Dorothy Sewell, 80, was named as a victim by her grandson, Elwood Delaney, who told CBC, “She was the foundation for all things sports here in our family, that’s for sure.”
The Canadian-born Sewell, who once worked at Sears, her grandson told CBC, which quoted him as saying, “She loved her Maple Leafs, she loved her Blue Jays. I don’t think she ever missed a Blue Jays game.”
Chul Kang
#Breaking: The owner of Copacabana restaurant has confirmed that chef Chul Min “Eddie” Kang was one of the victims killed in Monday’s van rampage. “His smile would always light up the room,” said Michael Rudan. t.co/277djVuDJk
Kang was a chef at Copacabana restaurant, where he had worked for six years, according to The Toronto Star. Michael Rudan, the owner of the restaurant, told the Star that Kang, who was of Korean descent, was “hardworking, loyal and salt of the earth.”
Munir Abdu Habib Al-Najjar
Munir Najjar, from Jordan, was visiting his son in Toronto before he died, a family friend said, calling him “a lovely, kind person, full of life, and who loved to make jokes.” He was always so excited about “being able to spend time with his son.” t.co/pD1MGjT9k1
A Jordanian citizen was also listed among the victims, and he was identified as Munir Abdu Habib Al-Najjar. The Jordanian Foreign Ministry “said that the citizen died of a serious accident in Toronto, Canada….The Jordanian embassy in Ottawa is also following up with the Canadian authorities regarding the investigations and measures to be taken in connection with the incident,” Ammon News reported.
Al-Najjar was visiting his son. Kandoush Aleid called the victim “a lovely, kind person and full of life,” adding that he “liked to make jokes and laugh.”
This post will be updated with information about other victims as they are named.