A driver rammed into pedestrians during Liverpool Football Club’s Premier League title parade in the U.K. on Monday.
Streets were filled with thousands of fans around 6 p.m. when the incident took place, leaving 47 people injured, with four, including a four-year-old child, in critical condition.
Police arrested a 53-year-old British man from the Liverpool area.
Highlights
- A 53-year-old British man rammed into crowds at Liverpool FC’s title parade, injuring 47 people, including four in critical condition.
- Footage showed fans vandalizing the suspect’s car before the incident, which happened minutes after Liverpool’s victory bus passed.
- The driver accelerated suddenly onto a pedestrian street closed for the event, throwing people into the air as the vehicle hit them.
- Police arrested the driver at the scene; authorities say the act was isolated and is not being treated as terrorism.
A British driver drove through a crowd during a Liverpool F.C. championship parade, leaving 47 injured
Image credits: Jess Hornby/Getty Images
Footage showed football fans vandalizing his car before the incident, with one eyewitness saying the driver had left a nearby bar moments before, according to the Daily Mail.
The incident took place just minutes after Liverpool’s open-top victory bus had passed.
About a million fans had lined the streets to celebrate their team’s triumph.
The parade had started earlier in the day at Allerton Maze in the south of the city and was due to end at the Strand.
Twenty people were treated at the scene, and 27 were taken to hospital, including four children.
Footage circulating on social media showed people thrown into the air as the car, a people carrier, rammed into spectators on Water Street.
The street had been closed off to traffic for the event.
Witnesses can be heard shouting “What are you doing?” as pedestrians bang on the car in an attempt to stop the driver.
Initially, the car was traveling at 30mph, sounding its horn. Then, it suddenly accelerated, swerved, and mounted the pavement, eyewitnesses said.
When the car came to a stop, furious fans swarmed it—shouting, smashing a window, and pulling the driver out before police intervened and took him into custody.
Many also tried to lift the vehicle to rescue people trapped underneath. According to officials, firefighters rescued four people, including a child, from beneath the vehicle.
Merseyside Police responded immediately after being contacted “following reports a car had been in collision with a number of pedestrians on Water Street,” a police press release notes.
“The car stopped at the scene and a male has been detained,” it added.
Assistant Chief Constable Jenny Sims confirmed the arrest and said that police believe the incident was an isolated act.
She added that no other suspects were being sought and that the incident was not being treated as terrorism.
“My thoughts are with all those injured in tonight's horrific incident,” Sims said.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on X: “The scenes in Liverpool are appalling – my thoughts are with all those injured or affected. I want to thank the police and emergency services for their swift and ongoing response to this shocking incident.
“I’m being kept updated on developments and ask that we give the police the space they need to investigate.”
Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram confirmed Tuesday morning that four of the injured are “very, very ill in hospital.”
“Initially, we just heard the pop, pop, pop of people just being knocked off the bonnet of a car ... I saw people lying on the ground, people unconscious. It was horrendous. So horrendous,” he said.
Another eyewitness, Natasha Rinaldi, who was watching the parade from a friend’s flat overlooking Water Street, described the chaos to Sky News.
She said, “we looked at the window and we saw the car run over people. Then people started rushing to go after the driver and they tried to break the car.”
The driver was arrested at the scene, but his motive is still under investigation
“The police did everything to block and to push people away.
“We could just hear screams and screams. We were very confused. Some of my friends were down there and the car was so near them. It was a horrible scene, nobody was expecting it.”
Authorities have not released the name or image of the suspect, who remains in custody.
While police have ruled out terrorism, the motive is still under investigation.
Image credits: Danny Lawson/Getty Images
“It looks as if he has panicked when he realized he was in the crowd and people began banging on his car,” the source said.
“Instead of going back the way he came, he’s got angry and put his foot down, it’s absolutely devastating.”
Liverpool F.C., in an internal message to staff, announced that all planned celebrations scheduled for the next day were canceled.
The club said they “will continue to offer [their] full support to the emergency services and local authorities” and encouraged people “to come together at this time to support each other.”
Image credits: Peter Byrne/Getty Images
The incident comes just days after a remembrance run was held in Liverpool to mark the 36th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster, in which 97 Liverpool fans lost their lives in a crush during an FA Cup semi-final in 1989.
Liverpool city council leader Liam Robinson said in a statement that the latest incident “cast a very dark shadow over what had been a joyous day.”
“I would like to pay tribute to the emergency services who responded to help those who were hurt and to our NHS staff treating them in hospital.”
He further said the city is working closely with Merseyside Police to support their investigation, and asked people not to share the horrifying footage of the incident on social media.
He also asked people to contact the police if they have any information that can help the investigation.