Remembering Yumna Afzaal, the 15-year-old killed in the London truck attack

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Former Member

Remembering Yumna Afzaal, the 15-year-old killed in the London truck attack

With files from Mark Gollom, Andrew Lupton, Kate Dubinksi/CBC, Nicole Thompson/The Canadian Press, CBC Kids News • Published June 10 2021 - Source - https://www.cbc.ca/kidsnews/po...-london-truck-attack

Yumna Afzaal, right, was the youngest person killed in the attack on a Muslim family in London, Ontario, on June 6. She was 15 years old. (Image credit: Mark Gollom/CBC, Afzaal family, graphic design by Philip Street/CBC)

⭐️HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW⭐️

Warning: This story contains details that readers may find disturbing.
Yumna Afzaal was the youngest person killed in an attack on a Muslim family on June 6 in London, Ontario.
Muslim teens are reacting to what police call a hate-motivated attack.
Keep reading to find out how they feel.

In so many ways, Yumna Afzaal was like any other teenager.

She was looking forward to starting Grade 10 in the fall, she missed her friends during COVID-19 and had just received her first dose of the vaccine.

But Yumna’s life was cut short on June 6 when she and her family were hit by a pickup truck while out for a walk in London, Ontario.

Support for Muslim community pours in following truck attack in London, Ont.

Yumna’s parents and grandmother were also killed. Her nine-year-old brother, Fayez, is in hospital and is expected to survive.

Police say the person driving the truck was motivated by hate toward Muslim people. He’s been arrested.

As the investigation continues, Yumna’s being remembered and honoured by her friends and Muslim kids across the country.

Yumna Afzaal, 15, alongside her mom, grandmother and father. They were all killed in the truck attack on June 6. (Image submitted by Afzaal family)

Her legacy lives on

Yumna’s friend, Hateem Amin, 14, described her as the kind of friend everyone wants to have.

“She would just compliment you and she would notice your insecurities and purposely direct the compliments at that,” Hateem said. “She was so thoughtful.”

The two had been friends since they were nine years old.

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Hateem Amin attended a vigil along with thousands of other people to honour the Afzaal family on June 8 in London, Ontario. (Image credit: Mark Gollom/CBC)

Last year, Yumna graduated from the London Islamic School, where she had painted a floor-to-ceiling mural before she left.

It features an image of the Earth floating in space beside the words, “Learn. Lead. Inspire.”

“She told our principal that she wanted to leave the mural as a legacy for the school,” said Hassan Moostafa, who knew the family.

“So every time we go down to that basement, that will be something that will just be a small part of her legacy.”

The mural has the following message: ‘Shoot for the moon, even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.’ (Image credit: Rob Krbavac/CBC)

Muslim teens react

Ali Kermali, 12, lives in Richmond Hill, Ontario, and heard on the news about the mural Yumna painted.

“That really stuck with me because I'm always trying to make an impact on my school,” he told CBC Kids News.

Ali, who is also Muslim, was out on a walk just like Yumna, with his dad and grandmother, when he found out what happened in nearby London.

“I just kept looking back every so often,” he said. “I felt scared and unwelcomed in those few minutes that I was walking.”

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Ali Kermali, 12, said Canada needs to be a more inclusive country. (Image submitted by Ali Kermali)

On Tuesday, Ali asked his teacher if the class could have a moment of silence for the Afzaal family.

The teacher agreed and everyone turned off their cameras.

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In Montreal, Sauda Shariff, 14, was also sad to hear the news, but she said it shouldn’t prevent her or anyone from living their lives, regardless of their religion.

“Be proud of who you are,” she said. “Just because this happens, don’t be afraid of going outside.

Sauda Shariff, 14, said Canadians need to be more accepting of different peoples’ faiths. (Image submitted by Sauda Shariff)

She wished Yumna’s brother, Fayez, a speedy recovery.

“Be patient,” she said to him. “Your family is in a good place. We are all with you.”

With files from Mark Gollom, Andrew Lupton, Kate Dubinksi/CBC, Nicole Thompson/The Canadian Press

Replies sorted oldest to newest

PrashadSenior Member

Very sad

6/11/2110:45 PM

seignetSenior Member

There are differences in races of people. Living in a multi-cultural country has its challeges. Naive individuals would think such a country is inclusive, it is not. The blessings to live here among a race of people who designed and developed this society requires a commitment to cultural changes of the immigrant.

There are exceptional good people around, but there are people as the attacker. Certain he is not alone. And what made him to kill when he knows he would be jailed for life, his freedom for the rest of his life curtailed.

Immigrants comes to foreign countries to escape terrorism and their poor corrupt governments. They take from the societies they immigate to. Sometimes they even complain about the society. Sometimes they disturb the society by staging demonstrations on the places they immigrated from.

Freedom has a price. If it found, be grateful, be thankful and treat it care. It is fragile. Its fragility is in equilibrium, the masses of decent good citizens is tilted by the few who differ.

6/12/217:32 AM

PrashadSenior Member

Some of those Alquida/iss terrorists commited terror against the countries who took them in.

6/12/218:01 AM

Former Member

Canada truck attack: Loved ones describe family as 'the best among us'

By Holly Honderich, BBC News, Toronto , Published, 21 hours ago, 12 June, 2021, Source - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57448595

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/D547/production/_118899545_londonafzaalfamily.jpg

Courtsey Saboor Khan

(From left to right) Yumna Afzaal, Madiha Salman, Salman's mother, and Salman Afzaal, were "the best" of their community, friends said

On Saturday, London, Ontario's Muslim community will lay to rest four members of a family killed in what police say was a racially motivated attack. Here's what we know about the family.

In May 2009, Madiha Salman was preparing to begin her master's degree in environmental engineering at Western University in London, Ontario. Madiha wrote to her soon-to-be faculty adviser, Professor Jason Gerhard, thanking him for his warm welcome into the programme, which she thought was going to be "a great experience of my life".

With her husband, Salman Afzaal, and their toddler, Yumna, Madiha moved to London to begin her studies. After she graduated, the couple stayed in the city, eventually having a second child, and becoming well-loved members of its tight-knit Muslim community.

On Sunday, Madiha, Salman and Yumna, and Salman's 74-year-old mother (who has not been named out of respect for the family's wishes), were struck and killed by a London man in a truck during an evening walk. The sole survivor was their nine-year-old son.

Police say the family were victims of a premeditated attack - singled out for their Muslim faith. The violence has left London reeling, and triggered a nationwide outpouring of grief.

"They were the best amongst us," said Saboor Khan, a London lawyer and long-time friend of the family. "Everybody knew them to be the most selfless, the most giving of people, the most generous, the most pleasant of people."

The loss has sent a shock of anxiety through members of Canada's Muslim community, now confronted with the question of their own safety when they step outside.

Over her 12 years in London, Madiha Salman pursued a career in engineering. She earned that master's degree and was on the cusp of completing a doctorate.

"She was a spectacular student, teammate, and engineer," Gerhard said. "She was unbelievably brave and determined, she wasn't going to let anything get in her way."

The professor recalled asking Madiha when he first interviewed her for the programme how she would handle the transition to Canadian education. He learned she had overcome obstacles before. In her undergraduate class in Pakistan, she told him, she was the only woman among 174 students.

Madiha and Salman had come to Canada for a better future, her cousin Qaim-ul-Haq told the BBC from Pakistan. They were a positive couple, he said, "committed to the good of society".

Madiha became a member of Gerhard's core research group. Dedicated to environmental preservation, she worked on the removal of toxic industrial chemicals from soil and groundwater. Her innovations are used in the field today, Gerhard said.

Sana Yasir, a neighbour and friend of the family, recalled "Auntie Madiha" helping with carpool and cooking meals for her family when Yasir's mother was sick with breast cancer.

"She wouldn't even ask," Yasir said. "She would just ring the doorbell and say, 'here, I made this for you.'"

Madiha's husband, Salman, a physiotherapist, worked at local elder care homes.

He was a sweet and gentle man, friends and colleagues said, dedicated to his Muslim faith. He loved cricket and table tennis, and treasured his garden.

"Whatever he did, he was very passionate about it," said Saboor Khan, the family friend.

Jeff Renaud, the administrator at the Ritz Lutheran Villa care home where Salman worked, said Salman continued to work throughout the pandemic, "caring for our moms, dads and grandparents".

"He was kind," Renaud said. "And deeply committed to our residents."

This week, Renaud received an email from a resident's family member, who said his elderly uncle had loved Wednesdays - the day Salman would come to see him.

"He said, 'My uncle didn't trust anyone but Salman,'" Renaud said. "We were spoiled working with him."

Yumna Afzaal was just finishing ninth grade at Oakridge Secondary School.

Studious and bright, she had been an "integral gem" of the London Islamic School, which offers kindergarten through grade eight, said principal Asad Choudhary.

He could not recall Yumna ever being involved in a conflict during his five years as principal - rare, he said, for middle school students.

Approaching her final year at the Islamic School, Yumna proposed painting a mural on one of the building's empty walls, turning a blank wall into something she and her peers could be proud of.

She persisted despite the pandemic, returning to school last summer to complete the project, often with her parents in tow.

Yumna said she wanted the space-themed mural to be her "legacy" at a place she loved so much, Choudhary said.

Yumna was protective of her younger brother, often bringing him along with her and her friends.

"They had a very close relationship," neighbour Yasir said, describing the young boy as sweet and shy.

A grade three student at the London Islamic School, "you wouldn't see him without a smile", Choudary said.

An online fundraiser for the nine-year-old started by Yasir has raised more than C$800,000 ($657,700; £466,000) as of Friday afternoon. A parallel campaign by the family's relatives in the US has raised more than C$1.1m.

The friends and relatives the BBC spoke to described the Afzaal matriarch, Salman's 74-year-old mother, as a support to the family in all their pursuits.

The busy family treasured their regular evening walks together, said Yasir. Neighbours in the city's northwest end grew fond of seeing the three generations out together at night, all five of them quick with a wave or smile.

Now, discussion of this nightly routine has been coloured by fear, as others in London's Muslim community say they worry for their own safety.

Yasir, who wears a hijab, said that she and her mother used to walk the same routes as the Afzaal family.

"Us Muslims, we like to say that we're not scared of people like that," she said, referring to the man now accused of killing her friends.

But she and her mother have not yet returned to their walks.

On Tuesday, thousands joined Yasir on London's Oxford Street for a vigil.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended, along with all of Canada's federal opposition leaders - a sign of the remarkable political solidarity that has followed the attack.

Trudeau has repeatedly condemned the violence as "an act of terror" and promised better for the country's minority communities.

But the attack against the London family has undercut Canada's promise of tolerance and multiculturalism, and shaken those who rely on that promise for their safety.

"The real question here is - which child is safe?" Chaudhary said. "In Canada, which sings the song of diversity, if we struggle with that answer we have a lot of work to do."

6/12/213:02 PM

TotaramSenior Member

@seignet posted:
There are differences in races of people. Living in a multi-cultural country has its challeges. Naive individuals would think such a country is inclusive, it is not. The blessings to live here among a race of people who designed and developed this society requires a commitment to cultural changes of the immigrant.
There are exceptional good people around, but there are people as the attacker. Certain he is not alone. And what made him to kill when he knows he would be jailed for life, his freedom for the rest of his life curtailed.
Immigrants comes to foreign countries to escape terrorism and their poor corrupt governments. They take from the societies they immigate to. Sometimes they even complain about the society. Sometimes they disturb the society by staging demonstrations on the places they immigrated from.
Freedom has a price. If it found, be grateful, be thankful and treat it care. It is fragile. Its fragility is in equilibrium, the masses of decent good citizens is tilted by the few who differ.

My friend, I'm not sure what you are getting at in this post. As an immigrant myself, I happen to believe that me being in this beautiful country is to the benefit of both me and the country. That goes for immigrants everywhere. When Canada granted me immigrant status it was because I met its requirements. I'm sure that was the same for you. The fact is that Canada cannot sustain its economic standing without immigration. Therefore, I will never say that I have to fit the mold laid out by "white" Canadians or Christian Canadians or whatever Canadians. I am a Canadian just like every other Canadian, no better, no worse. I am not so naive to believe that there is no bigotry in this country. There is as much here as elsewhere and I will not be cowed by anyone not to fight it whenever I can. Wherever we live we must see all groups as equal and treat them as such.

6/12/213:43 PM

Former Member

Funeral service held for London, Ont. family killed in vehicle attack

Denio Lourenco Digital Content Editor, @iamdenio Contact, Published Saturday, June 12, 2021 9:56AM EDT Last Updated Saturday, June 12, 2021 8:49PM EDT, Source - https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/...cle-attack-1.5467803

TORONTO -- Hundreds gathered in London, Ont. on Saturday afternoon at the public funeral for four members of a Muslim family who were killed in an attack that police have called a hate crime.

The public was invited to join in celebrating the lives of Talat Afzaal, 74, her son Salman Afzaal, 46, his wife Madiha Salman, 44, and their 15-year-old daughter Yumnah Salman.

All four were killed last Sunday when they were hit by a truck during one of their regular evening walks. The couple's nine-year-old son, Fayez, was the only survivor and remains in hospital with serious injuries.

A statement released to the media by a family spokesperson names the deceased as Salman Afzaal, his wife Madiha, their daughter Yumna and Salman Afzaal's mother.

The funeral began with a recitation from the Qur'an by Imam Mohamed Fouad from Quebec City, which was translated into English by Munir El-Kassem, the director of religious affairs at the Islamic Centre of Southwest Ontario.

Pakistan’s ambassador to Canada, Raza Bashir Tarar, spoke briefly at the funeral saying, “I stand here before you to reiterate the condolences from my Prime Minister Imran Khan, from my foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, from the entire nation and country of Pakistan which stands shoulder-to-shoulder with you in this hour of grief; in this time when our hearts are bleeding because of the atrocity that has befallen this wonderful marvelous family.”

“The very fact that their coffins are draped in the beautiful Canadian flag is a testimony of the fact that the entire Canadian nation stands with them,” he added.

Some of the family’s relatives also spoke at the ceremony and shared touching tributes.

“Last Sunday evening four fountains of sweetness were taken away. Three generations taken too soon,” Madiha Salman’s uncle, Ali Islam, said at the service. “In schools, universities and nursing homes, across southwestern Ontario there are hundreds of lucky people who felt the gentle unassuming characters of our loved ones.”

“The outpouring of support we have received from Canadians and from across the world has confirmed the potential of absolute innate goodness inside human kind irrespective of colour and creed. The expressions of raw emotion, the prayers, the quiet tears, the messages of comfort from people we know and from people who are complete strangers has been the first step towards finding a way to heal,” he added.

Throughout the service, volunteers distributed masks and water bottles to the crowd, which was separated by gender.

The ceremony concluded with a prayer for the family.

After the hearses left for the cemetery, lawn signs were distributed to mourners showing four white silhouettes of the family members on a purple background with the slogan, "We stand with our London family."

The family was buried later Saturday at the Islamic Cemetery of London in a private ceremony.

With files from The Canadian Press.

6/12/219:51 PM

cainTired old hippie

Absolutely senseless deaths. Those who are guilty of such acts should be made to punish for the rest of their miserable lives. There has to be a deterrent .

6/12/2111:01 PM

seignetSenior Member

Humans kill other humans, wherever they are, for all sorts of reasons. Thank God, it is only a few in Canada who would do that. Thanks to the laws laid out by white settlers in the development of their societies, it is universal.

Some immigrants want to change certain laws, imagine how terrible this country would be if allowed to happen.

Deterrent, I do not know.

I am aware some bigot could do me harm at any moment because I am not white, that is a possibility. My Nigerian Pastors would admonish, cover yourself with the spilt blood of Jesus against the wiles of the devil.

Personal liberties I believe in. To challege some one or a society for my personal liberties is a useless task. The native people of this country a glaring example.

6/13/218:28 AM

TotaramSenior Member

@seignetWhat white laws laid out by what white settlers? Do you mean the invaders who stole the land of the native people and killed them off in the process? I'm sorry that there are people of colour who believe that white people do them a favour by allowing them to live in the West. In fact, I feel sorry for them, people who deserve to be independent but live in mental slavery.

6/13/218:37 AM

seignetSenior Member

Yes, and I really doan mind being in mental slavery. I have been here since 1967. Enjoy a good life, thanks be to God. With His favor, I could have had it anywhere He choose for me. But His choice is Canada and I am greatful.

Been harassed by the police a few times, I guess supposedly because of the car I was driving. I had to pop open the truck on three occassions. I worry about them more than a skinhead wanting to hurt me. The police is everywhere visible and could stop a person and do anything they want. Overall, the white people law will side with me, BECAUSE THEY HAVE PRINCIPLES.

I refuse to visit Guyana, because the police stop you for no reason and it is fearful. In Canada, atleast fifty percent you can be in the clear. In Guyana, you never know.

I rather mental slavery than prejudice because I am Indian looking.

I was wondering when you going return from whence you came?

Natives lost out everywhere. Like the extinct dinosaur, it had to gave way for humans. The Natives had to give the ground to the Spaniards. It is expected people of color will take over soon. That day will have more shithole countries on the Globe. By then the White man will be in space. Non-Whites who can afford the passage will follow them.

That's how great white folks are, they keep inventing.

6/13/211:10 PM

TotaramSenior Member

@seignet posted:
Yes, and I really doan mind being in mental slavery. I have been here since 1967. Enjoy a good life, thanks be to God. With His favor, I could have had it anywhere He choose for me. But His choice is Canada and I am greatful.
Been harassed by the police a few times, I guess supposedly because of the car I was driving. I had to pop open the truck on three occassions. I worry about them more than a skinhead wanting to hurt me. The police is everywhere visible and could stop a person and do anything they want. Overall, the white people law will side with me, BECAUSE THEY HAVE PRINCIPLES.
I refuse to visit Guyana, because the police stop you for no reason and it is fearful. In Canada, atleast fifty percent you can be in the clear. In Guyana, you never know.
I rather mental slavery than prejudice because I am Indian looking.
I was wondering when you going return from whence you came?
Natives lost out everywhere. Like the extinct dinosaur, it had to gave way for humans. The Natives had to give the ground to the Spaniards. It is expected people of color will take over soon. That day will have more shithole countries on the Globe. By then the White man will be in space. Non-Whites who can afford the passage will follow them.
That's how great white folks are, they keep inventing.

You say you are Indian looking but judging from what you wrote here you must hate yourself and those who look like you. Your post says it all. BTW, you are wondering when I am going to return from whence I came? What makes you think I am going anywhere?

6/13/211:35 PM

cainTired old hippie

HeH HeH HeH!

Siggy, if not for all dem inventions the word Mancave would have meant we still be hanging around in caves, wear next to nothing, eating fruit, nuts, berries and whatever animal happens by. Oh Yeh, pull women dem by their hair when is rut time an it doan even fall off. In other words, living the good healthy life.

6/13/215:12 PM

seignetSenior Member

Maybe that is why a man named his private hang out Mancave, he wants to live like his forefathers.

6/13/215:27 PM

cainTired old hippie

You ketch on fast.

So you think this invention business is the result of Adam biting into the forbidden fruit of knowledge?

6/13/215:40 PM

seignetSenior Member

@cain posted:
You ketch on fast.
So you think this invention business is the result of Adam biting into the forbidden fruit of knowledge?

According to Marduk, the god of the Sumerians, Adam used to lay with the animals. The first Tarzan. That was unethical, so Marduk made a mate for him. At the said time he made Cain and Abel. Cain was a naturally wicked chap, he was into all kinds of mischief with Eve. The muslims claimed he kidnapped her from Adam and took her to Ethiopia.

Yuh tink yuh barn bak as Cain?

6/13/215:57 PM

cainTired old hippie

I doan know banna but I got this strange urge fi pelt a brick every now an then. You know, I once had a much older lady fren but she never got me fo eat apple, that woulda been impossible anyway. You ketch da one?

6/13/216:04 PM

Former Member

Terror charges laid against Nathaniel Veltman, accused in London, Ont. vehicle attack

Justin Zadorsky CTVNewsLondon.ca Web Writer, Contact, Published Monday, June 14, 2021 6:16AM EDT Last Updated Monday, June 14, 2021 10:41AM EDT, Source - https://london.ctvnews.ca/terr...cle-attack-1.5469106

LONDON, ONT. -- Federal and provincial Crown attorneys have laid terror charges against the man accused of intentionally driving into a Muslim family in London, Ont. killing four and injuring a child.

Nathaniel Veltman, 20, was facing four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder in relation to the alleged vehicle attack.

At a court appearance Monday morning in London, Ont. prosecutors informed Veltman that they received consent to pursue terrorism charges under section 83 of the Criminal Code.

Veltman appeared before the court at 10 a.m.

Shortly after federal Crown attorney Sarah Shaikh spoke to the court saying that on June 9 prosecutors received consent to go ahead with terror proceedings.

Provincial Crown attorney Jennifer Moser also said that they had received consent on June 9 on the provincial level.

Veltman appeared in court last Thursday but the case was put over in order for him to apply for legal aid and obtain counsel.

At Monday's appearance Veltman still did not have legal counsel and the case was put over until June 21.

A publication ban has been placed on the proceedings.

The deceased have been identified as 46-year-old Salman Afzaal, his 44-year-old wife Madiha Salman, their 15-year-old daughter Yumna Salman and her 74-year-old grandmother, Talat Afzaal.

The four family members were laid to rest over the weekend, meanwhile the couple’s nine-year-old son Fayez has been recovering in hospital from serious injuries sustained in the attack.

Police have alleged that the attack on the evening of June 6, was a planned and premeditated act against Muslims.

The family had been out for an evening walk along Hyde Park Road at South Carriage Road when they were hit by a driver in a black pickup.

In a statement, London police say they worked in conjunction with the RCMP, Ministry of the Attorney General and Public Prosecution Service of Canada to determine the charges also "constitute terrorism offences."

Police are also reassure the public that "there is no further known or suspected threat to the public associated to the accused at this time," but added the investigation is ongoing.

None of the charges have been proven in court.

The London Muslim Mosque, which the family belonged to, has called for a national summit on Islamophobia between all levels of government.

A vigil for the family saw thousands of Londoners pour out to show support to the Muslim community.

CTV News will be following Monday’s court proceedings and will provide updates as they become available.

Nathaniel Veltman, 20, appeared in a London, Ont. court via video on Thursday, June 10, 2021.

6/14/2112:57 PM

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