Canada Remembers Muslim Family Killed in 2021 Terror Attack

“What we’ve been hearing from communities here in London, where this tragedy occurred, is they are very hopeful,” Almira Elghawaby, Canada’s special representative on combating Islamophobia, told the London Free Press. “More and more people are interested in being allies to Canadian Muslims, understanding that hate hurts us all.”

Written by

Published on

July 3, 2025

In the southwest Canadian province of Ontario lies London, a metropolis known for its vibrant culture, beautiful parks, and Canada’s first UNESCO City of Music. It is also known as the city where, on June 6, 2021, four members of the Afzaal family died in an act of terrorism, an Anadolu report said.

The driver of a half-ton truck plowed into the family, wiping out two generations and leaving a nine-year-old boy orphaned.

A peaceful evening walk by the family was shattered when Nathaniel Veltman spotted them on the sidewalk, passed by, then made a U-turn and plowed into the unsuspecting family.

The Afzaal family – Salman Afzaal, 46, his wife Madiha Salman, 44, their daughter Yumnah, 15, and Afzaal’s mother, Talat, 74. The boy was seriously injured but survived.

The Afzaal killings spawned an outpouring of grief in the Muslim community and at large as Canadians stared at the face of hate.

This year, as every year, people gathered to remember the family.

“What we’ve been hearing from communities here in London, where this tragedy occurred, is they are very hopeful,” Almira Elghawaby, Canada’s special representative on combating Islamophobia, told the London Free Press. “More and more people are interested in being allies to Canadian Muslims, understanding that hate hurts us all.”

Elghawaby was appointed in the aftermath of the Afzaal killings.But that was not the only measure taken after the felling of the Afzaals.

[Read more on Radiancenews.com]