Rachel Ambrosio performed at the festival with a group of dancers Saturday afternoon, hours before the tragedy unfolded.

Ambrosio, who is heavily involved in the Vancouver Filipino community, says she was up until 2 a.m. in message groups where people were asking for information about their loved ones and friends.

“That made us really worried,” said Ambrosio, who had left for a dinner party when the incident took place but returned soon after with her partner to pick up their car. That’s when they found out what had happened and saw the flashing lights of first responders all around them.

Before the incident, Ambrosio said the second annual Lapu Lapu Day celebration had been a success.

“It was so happy,” Ambrosio said on CBC News Network. “The DJs were playing music that Filipinos know and love from childhood and everyone was dancing and singing.”

She said many people in the Filipino community know each other and were meeting old friends and acquaintances.

“Imagining how many people that we might know from the incident, it’s scary,” Ambrosio said. She said received news this morning that “is hard to process right now,” but did not elaborate.

“It just became real this morning,” she said.