Ten dead, 15 hurt by van plowing over Toronto sidewalk

A driver plowed his white Ryder rental van into a crowd, killing ten people and injuring 15 along a roughly mile-long stretch of busy Toronto sidewalk during lunch hour on a sunny Monday, police said.
Officials declined to answer questions about what motivated the driver to steer his vehicle toward people just before 1:30 p.m. (1730 GMT). They said the driver was in custody and stopped short of calling it a deliberate act.
Police began receiving calls for help and calls reporting the incident almost immediately, TorontoDeputy Chief Peter Yuen told a news conference after disclosing the death toll.
At least one witness described the driver as appearing to deliberately target victims on his roughly mile-long (1.6 km-long) rampage, according to media reports.
A witness saw at least two tarp-covered bodies at the site of the incident. Five people remained in critical condition at Sunnybrook Health Services Centre on Monday afternoon, the hospital said.
There have been a string of deadly vehicle attacks in the United States and Europe, including an Oct. 31 attack in New York that killed eight. Islamic State militant group encourages its supporters to use vehicles for attacks.