Canada van victims include people from Jordan, South Korea
TORONTO (AP) - The first victim publicly identified after a van plowed down a Toronto sidewalk and killed 10 people worked at an investment management firm and enjoyed sports and volunteering.
Other victims included a Seneca College student, a citizen of Jordan and two Korean nationals, though the names of most of the victims weren't immediately released.
Anne Marie D'Amico, 30, worked at Invesco, which is near the scene of Monday's incident. Toronto City Councilor Cesar Palacio said D'Amico was a friend of his daughter, and he remembers her as "a brilliant young girl" who was interested in improving society.
This undated image provided by Tennis Canada shows Anne Marie D'Amico. Toronto City Councilor Cesar Palacio has identified one of the victims of Monday, April 24, 2018 van incident as Anne Marie D'Amico. (Tennis Canada via AP)
On Tuesday he spoke with her parents, who live in his ward. "You can imagine the nightmare, the living nightmare they're going through at this moment," he said.
D'Amico volunteered at a Canada-based international humanitarian charity called Live Different. She helped build houses in the Dominican Republic in 2015 and 2017, according to Dave Hamilton, the charity's manager of school partnerships. He remembered her as "super-positive, always smiling, a funny person, always up for a challenge, and really wanted to help people out."
D'Amico also volunteered with the nonprofit Tennis Canada association, working at the Rogers Cup tournament since the age of 12. She started out as a ball girl and worked her way up to be an "integral" part of the volunteer team, most recently leading a committee on stadium control, the association said. She was voted volunteer of the year in 2016.
"Anne Marie lived for working at Rogers Cup and seeing her fellow volunteers each summer," said Gavin Ziv, the association's vice president of professional events. "The tournament was such a large part of her life, and we were so lucky to have her on our team each summer."
Others killed included Munair Najjar, a citizen of Jordan who was in Toronto visiting family, according to state-run news agency Petra. Jordan's embassy in Ottawa is in contact with Najjar's family, the agency said. No other information about Najjar was released.
Seneca College said one of its students was killed, but declined to identify her, citing privacy reasons. President David Agnew confirmed the death in an email to students and staff in which he said two other students suffered minor injuries that did not require hospitalization.
"Along with the rest of the city, and world, we were stunned by yesterday's news," Agnew said.
Two South Koreans were among the dead, Yonhap News Agency reported, citing government officials. A third South Korean national was injured. The Korean consulate general office in Toronto declined to confirm the report.