Pembrokeshire woman caught up in Liverpool parade crash

Western Telegraph

27-05-2025

Leah Bower was among those at the parade in Liverpool on Monday, May 26, and watched the celebrations along Fenwick Street.
However, she and her father were met with chaos when they turned onto Water Street and were caught up in the aftermath of the car crash which saw dozens injured.
Ms Bower told BBC Radio Wales: "We had absolutely no idea what was going on because we turned the corner and we were among the aftermath of people screaming and running away.
Leah Bower was one of the thousands to attend the parade (Image: Owen Humphreys)
"We ended up closer than we probably should have been to the aftermath of it and saw everyone injured on the floor and at varying different levels."
She saw people with varying degrees of injury, from cut knees to people desperately needing medical attention,
"One thing I can say was the speed the emergency services got there was phenomenal despite the amount of crowd there."
Four people are still 'very, very ill in hospital' after the incident, which saw a car plough into crowds of people on Water Street on Monday evening.
A 53-year-old white British man from the Liverpool area was being held in custody.
Ms Bower described the moment they accidentally became caught up in the aftermath.
She said: "We saw people running away and police running past us, but your mind doesn't go to the absolute worst.
"You just think we'll cut through that to go back to the hotel.
She described not knowing what was happening as people were running in the other direction (Image: Danny Lawson)
"It had been a long day, we were soaked through, so we just thought we'd get back to the hotel, and you just don't think that the worst can happen.
"You hear rumours that a car had driven through and you think 'no way, that can't happen.'
"There was no understanding of how that could have happened and it was only when we took a second to ring our family to let them know that we were ok, they had no idea what was happening.
"That was when we realised how quickly we were actually in the incident."
Footage shared on social media appeared to show people in the crowd attempting to approach the driver of the car, with some kicking the vehicle and smashing the back window.
Liverpool City Metro mayor Steve Rotheram told BBC Radio 5 Live: "There are still four people who are very, very ill in hospital and we are hoping of course that they pull through very, very quickly."
Four people - including a child - were trapped under the car and rescued by firefighters. They were amongst 27 people taken to hospital, with a further 20 treated for injuries at the scene.