A young girl puts a flower on the fence of the London Muslim Mosque during a multifaith march to end hatred, after a man driving a pickup truck struck and killed four members of a Muslim family in London, Ontario, Canada, on June 11, 2021.
Several thousand people have participated in an interfaith march honoring the four members of a Muslim family who were killed in an attack that has shocked Canada.
The procession started at the site where three generations of a family out for a Sunday evening stroll – 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 – were killed in London, southern Ontario, as they were waiting to cross the street.
The couple's nine-year-old son Fayez suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
The march against racism and Islamophobia culminated at London's mosque, about 7 kilometres (4.5 miles) away.
READ MORE: Thousands hold vigil to remember Muslim victims of Canada terror attack
"Give Peace a Chance"
The demonstrators, who included families with children, banged on drums while others sang John Lennon's "Give Peace a Chance."
They held posters with messages like "Hate kills" and "We're all human."
After a moment of silence marking the time of the tragedy, representatives from several religions gave speeches denouncing hatred and saluting the outpouring of support for London's 30,000-strong Muslim community.
Other rallies or vigils in Canada on Friday took place in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec, where a shooting in a mosque left six dead in 2017.
The Afzaal family's funeral is scheduled for Saturday afternoon.
Nathaniel Veltman, 20, has been charged with four counts of first degree murder and one count of attempted murder in the truck attack. If found guilty he faces life in prison.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called the assault – in which Veltman's truck mounted a curb and struck the Afzaal family – a "terrorist attack."
READ MORE: Canadian PM: Killing of Muslim family a 'terrorist attack'
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