In the wake of tragedy, Vancouver's Sunset neighbourhood grows closer and stronger

1 month_ago 14

British Columbia

A section salon proprietor has been checking successful connected her customers much often and visiting the tract of the calamity aggregate times a day. Meanwhile, a café proprietor adjacent is gathering with assemblage members to bask a cupful of chai, grieve and speech astir however to marque the neighbourhood safer.

3 weeks aft the Lapu-Lapu Day festival calamity that near 11 dead, the assemblage is grieving together

Courtney Dickson · CBC News

· Posted: May 20, 2025 7:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: May 20

Two radical kneel successful beforehand of candles, flowers and messages of sympathy.

As a child, Rob Nijjar figured South Vancouver's Sunset neighbourhood indispensable beryllium the city's downtown halfway — it was ever a bustling country filled with radical from astir the world.

He did everything successful that community. It was wherever helium saw his archetypal film, visited a slope for the archetypal clip and shopped for groceries. He grew up there.

"It's a really, truly genuine, down to world spot that welcomes everybody," Nijjar said. "It doesn't substance your economical level, what culture, what language, no English astatine all. You're really, truly invited here."

Now, arsenic enforcement manager of the Sunset connected Fraser Business Association, helium said the assemblage has travel unneurotic adjacent stronger successful the aftermath of the Lapu-Lapu Day festival calamity connected April 26, which near 11 radical dormant and galore much injured.

"It was perfectly devastating," Nijjar said. "You instrumentality it truthful personally."

A antheral wearing a grey overgarment and achromatic garment stands connected a sidewalk arsenic cars spell by connected the adjacent street.

Andy Yan, an subordinate prof successful Simon Fraser University's municipality studies department, said the Sunset neighbourhood is 1 of the astir divers places successful Vancouver. About 83 per cent of residents place arsenic being portion of a disposable minority, portion 53 per cent are immigrants, Yan said.

"The metropolis of Vancouver is surely diverse, but it's wrong Sunset that it is hyper-diverse," helium said. "It brings successful people from astir the satellite into this unthinkable portion of the city."

A pistillate successful a greenish puffer overgarment and prima chapeau walks on a sidewalk, past a postulation of memorial flowers.

But, Yan said, it's besides an underappreciated area. It's surely not the neighbourhood that's advertised to tourists, and Yan said erstwhile helium paid a sojourn to the tract of the festival calamity successful caller weeks, helium noticed sidewalks that were cracked and not maintained arsenic good arsenic they are successful different parts of Vancouver.

It's not cleanable sidewalks oregon tourists that marque the community, though. It's the radical who unrecorded and enactment determination each day.

At Friends connected Fraser, a salon adjacent Fraser Street and 43rd Avenue, proprietor May Duong said she visits the tract of the tragedy, conscionable 2 blocks away, aggregate times a day.

"When we person escaped time, we travel there, we commune for [those lost]."

A pistillate wearing a achromatic garment and apron smiles.

She said she's been checking successful connected her customers who unrecorded successful the country a small more, calling them to marque definite they're doing alright. Duong takes the sanction of her business, which she's owned for 25 years, to heart: each her customers are her friends.

"We commune together."

A fewer blocks southbound of Duong's shop, café owner Nikhil Kurundvade said assemblage members person been coming unneurotic implicit a cupful of chai to grieve.

"In India they [say] chai is not conscionable a chai, it's an emotion," helium said. "Chai fundamentally connects people."

A antheral wearing a grey overgarment and achromatic garment smiles

He arrived successful Vancouver 11 years ago, astatine property 23, with his precocious schoolhouse sweetheart. They went to assemblage unneurotic and now, person opened up a café successful the assemblage that Kurundvade said has ever been truthful benignant to him.

"When I was a student, I was looking for a occupation and I was benignant of going done antithetic shops and stores oregon cafés and everybody was truthful welcoming," helium said. "They offered immoderate escaped snacks, escaped food."

He said concern owners promised to fto him cognize erstwhile a occupation opened up — which they did. He worked successful the assemblage for astir 8 years earlier starting his ain business, which helium hopes volition springiness backmost to newcomers the mode others helped him.

A pistillate kneels down to acceptable a bouquet of flowers adjacent to a lamp post.

That's wherefore he's been gathering with assemblage members to link and rebuild, stronger than ever.

"We get together, person chai oregon person java and past discuss, and we get a accidental to grieve what happened and however we tin forestall thing similar this from happening successful future," Kurundvade said.

"It's truthful unfortunate that this happened, but we are trying our champion to header with the incidental that took place."