Alek Minassian, 25, of Richmond Hill, was arrested on Monday after allegedly killing 10 people and injuring 15 others in Toronto

A rented van plowed down a crowded Toronto sidewalk on Monday, killing 10 people and injuring 15 before the driver fled and was quickly arrested in a confrontation with police.

Police have identified the suspect as Alek Minassian, a 25-year-old from Richmond Hill, who was arrested shortly after the horror ordeal.

Witnesses say the van mounted the curb on Yonge Street near Finch Ave in Toronto just before 1.30pm on Monday.

They said the driver was moving fast and appeared to be acting deliberately, but police officials would not comment on the cause or any possible motive.

'This person was intentionally doing this, he was killing everybody,' a witness at the scene, who only gave his name as Ali, said.

'He kept going, he kept going. People were getting hit, one after another.'

He added that many of the victims had been elderly while he saw a stroller fly into the air.

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Police confirmed that 25-year-old Alek Minassian, of Richmond Hill, was arrested over the attack on Monday afternoon

An injured pedestrian is transferred to a gurney by first responders after a van hit at least eight people in Toronto

A white van has mowed down at least eight pedestrians in Canada , police say. Pictured, first responders treat some of the injured at the scene

A police officer stands next to a victim of an incident where a van struck multiple people at a major intersection in Toronto's northern suburbs

Speaking at a news conference Monday night, Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders raised the initial death toll of nine to 10, saying another victim had died at a hospital. He said 15 others were hospitalized.

Footage of Minassian's arrest, which was filmed by a bystander, showed the suspect in an intense standoff with a police officer as he waved what appeared to be a gun a few blocks from the initial incident.

The officer can be heard repeatedly shouting: 'Get down or you'll be shot' before Minassian dropped and was taken into custody.

Authorities said the suspect had not been known to police previously.

Asked if there was any evidence of a connection to international terrorism, the police chief said: 'Based on what we have there's nothing that has it to compromise the national security at this time.'

A senior national government official said earlier that authorities had not turned over the investigation to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, a sign that investigators believed it unlikely terrorism was the motive.

Authorities released few details in the case, saying the investigation was still underway, with witnesses being interviewed and surveillance video being examined.

'I can assure the public all our available resources have been brought in to investigate this tragic situation,' Toronto Police Services Deputy Chief Peter Yuen said earlier.

The incident occurred as Cabinet ministers from the major industrial countries were gathered in Canada to discuss a range of international issues in the run-up to the G7 meeting near Quebec City in June.

Canadian Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale called the incident a 'horrific attack' and said the G7 foreign ministers extended their condolences.

A body lies covered on the sidewalk in Toronto after the van mounted a sidewalk crashing into a number of pedestrians on Monday

Police inspect a van suspected of being involved in a collision injuring at least eight people at Yonge St. and Finch Ave

The van fled the scene after striking the pedestrians. Cops were able to stop the driver a few blocks away

The driver was heading south on busy Yonge Street around 1.30pm and the streets were crowded with people enjoying an unseasonably warm day when the van jumped onto the sidewalk.

Witnesses were shocked by the bloody scene in front of them.

'It was just so many bodies,' said Carol Roberts, who said she saw 'a lot of people lying lifeless on the ground.'

Ali Shaker, who witnessed the incident, said the driver appeared to be deliberately running down the pedestrians.

'He started going down on the sidewalk and crumbling down people one by one,' Shaker told CTV News Channel, adding that one victim had a stroller.

'He just destroyed so many people's lives,' he said. 'Every single thing that got in his way.'

Another witness said he saw at least five or six people being resuscitated by bystanders and paramedics. He estimated the driver was going around 70km an hour.

The suspect has not yet been identified but has been taken into custody

Aerial grabs show the scene in Toronto where the van struck multiple pedestrians

Multiple people were killed after the driver mounted the sidewalk. Witnesses say they saw bodies strewn across the sidewalk

A Toronto police officer responds to an incident where a van struck multiple people at a major intersection

Another witness Jamie Eopni told CP24 that the van driver 'didn't really look like he cared where he was going or what he was doing.'

'It was crashing into everything. It destroyed a bench. If anybody was on that street they would have been hit on the sidewalk,' Eopni said.

'You could see exactly where he drove because of the tire marks. (He was) just crashing into the poles, scraping along.'

A waiter at a local cafe said one of the victims appeared to be a girl in serious condition.

The van was a rental truck from Ryder - a truck rental and supply firm.

Buildings and workplaces in the area where the van struck pedestrians were locked down, and a nearby subway station was closed and service suspended.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau passed along his thoughts, from the House of Commons on Monday afternoon.

'Our thoughts are obviously with those affected by this incident,' he said.

Toronto Mayor John Tory added that he was on his way to the scene and it was a 'very tragic incident.'

'My thoughts are with those affected by this incident and the frontline responders who are working to help those injured,' Tory's statement read.

TV helicopter pics of the hit and run shows an entire bus load of paramedics arriving at the scene in Toronto, Canada

Toronto Police are at the scene and have shut down the street as first responders treat some of the injured on the sidewalk

A multi-casualty incident has been declared and officials are asking people to avoid the area

Emergency vehicles blocked off the street and officials are asking people to avoid the area

The rented Ryder van sits on a sidewalk about a mile from where several pedestrians were injured in northern Toronto

Emergency services close Yonge Street in Toronto after the van mounted a sidewalk crashing into a crowd of pedestrians

Police cover over what appears to be the body of a victim of the van crash

The United States and Europe have seen a string of deadly attacks in which vehicles were used to mow down pedestrians, including an Oct. 31 attack in New York that killed eight.

At least one person was struck outside on the sidewalk outside an Anglican church, about 0.9 miles north of where the van came to rest in front of a currency exchange in a condominium tower.

Just two months ago, ISIS urged fanatics to carry out vehicle attacks in a chilling poster showing a picture of blood on the front of a lorry.

The terror group called on would-be lone-wolf jihadists to 'hit them with a truck' and to 'kill them all' in the propaganda material.

Muharar al-Ansar, the pro-ISIS group that released the poster, has previously released similar graphics calling for arson and gun attacks, according to the respected SITE Intelligence group which monitors terror activity.

ISIS has used vehicles to carry out a wave of atrocities in the past, with similar attacks taking place in Britain, the US, France, Germany, Spai