Meath family saved by Liverpool fans as car ploughed through parade

Extra.ie​

5 days ago

A soccer fan from Co. Meath has spoken of his family's ordeal after their lives were saved by heroic Liverpool supporters when a driver ploughed into a parade in the city on Monday.
Paul O'Brien, 39, from Slane, was at the parade with his 11-year-old son, Danny, and his parents, Peter and Marie. They were in the path of the car as it drove through the crowd, but he said they were saved by four fans who pushed them aside to safety.
'It was panic, screaming, commotion,' Mr O'Brien said. 'No one knew what was going on. Was something else going to happen?' However, he said Liverpool fans 'stuck together in a moment of crisis and they stood up to it'. Police tents surrounded by debris at the scene on Water Street near the Liver Building in Liverpool city centre. Pic: Peter Byrne/PA Wire
Another Irish couple also told of their trauma after the terrifying incident. Jack Trotter, who escaped the rampage with injuries to his leg and back, feared he'd never see his son again as the Ford Galaxy bore down on him and other supporters.
'It's the thought that somebody tried to seriously injure me… kill me,' Mr Trotter said last night. 'I've never had someone try and essentially kill me before. He knew fine well what he was doing. This was no accident.'
Mr Trotter, from Newtownards, Co. Down, had travelled for the celebrations with his girlfriend, Abbie Gallagher. Liverpool fans Jack Trotter and Abi Gallagher, telling Sky News how they were hit by a car at the Liverpool victory parade yesterday. Pic: Sky News
'The car just started ramming through people,' he told Sky News. 'And when it got to my level, the car slowed down. I put my hands up to try and protect myself and get him to stop, but he tried to ram right through me. As he tried to ram through me I sort of dodged the middle of the bonnet but he was able to clip my legs.'
He said the 'adrenaline kicked in and I got myself back up', adding: 'The first thing I done was try and get to Abbie. When I realised Abbie was okay the adrenaline went off and I realised I was in a lot of pain and collapsed on the wall and she had to lift me back up… I'm in absolute agony. I can't get it out of my head how traumatic the experience was.'
Mr Trotter, who was discharged from hospital yesterday on crutches, knows how lucky he was. Pausing to compose himself, he added: 'I've got a little boy back home and it's the thought he could have been taking me away from him.' Police and emergency personnel are responding to a road traffic accident on Water Street, near the Liver Building in Liverpool. Pic: Danny Lawson/PA Wire
Ms Gallagher told how she pushed herself off the bonnet of the car as it ploughed through the group they were standing with. They found themselves on either side of the people carrier, lost in the chaos and confusion.
Ms Gallagher said: 'Everything was mental. Everyone was crying. I was in hysterics. I couldn't find him for at least five minutes. 'I look around, and there's people in the air. I just freaked out. I was just trying to find Jack.
'Luckily enough, he heard me screaming. He came up and said, 'I'm here'. We didn't know what to say, we were just crying.' An inflatable field tent is at the scene on Water Street near the Liver Building in Liverpool. Pic: Peter Byrne/PA Wire
Mr Trotter was carried by strangers into a nearby bar, where he was treated by paramedics before being taken to hospital.
Another eyewitness, called Paul, told the BBC's Radio 5 Live: 'I just can't get this picture [out of my head] of this poor lady just laid under the front of the car, it was horrendous.'
As the car came to a halt, it was rushed by dozens of fans attempting to get to the driver, with some shouting: 'Kill him!'
Just as the vehicle's doors were prised open, he was grabbed by police officers and bundled into a nearby van before the baying crowd could get to him.
Four of the injured were children, and 27 people had to be taken to the hospital. Within three hours of the incident, Merseyside Police confirmed the arrested man was white and British – an attempt to quell social media speculation.
Last night, they continued to question a 53-year-old from the West Derby area of Liverpool on suspicion of attempted murder, dangerous driving and driving while under the influence of drugs.
It was always going to be an unforgettable day for the one million soccer fans who took to the city's streets to celebrate a record-equalling 20th league title. But not like this.
The parade began four hours earlier: Liverpool, a sea of red; fireworks and flares peppering the sky; young and old straining to catch a glimpse of their idols – record-breaking Egyptian prince Mohamed Salah or Dutch captain Virgil van Dijk – as the club's open-top bus snaked through the city.
Shortly before 6 pm, the bus passed the Liver Building. Its two iconic Liver birds are said to watch over the city and the sea. One adorns the club crest. Huge confetti cannons covered the crowd in red ticker tape as they waved scarves and flags towards the players, who in turn took out their mobile phones to film their fans back.
Yet within minutes, the inexplicable actions of the driver turned these scenes of joy into barely imaginable terror, as a car-tailgaiting an ambulance heading to treat a fan for a suspected heart attack–passed a cordon and ploughed into fans, injuring 65 people.
Last night, 11 remained in hospital. That no one was killed appears nothing short of a miracle. Mobile phone footage posted to social media captured the commotion.
Within moments of entering Water Street, which had been blocked off to traffic, the Ford Galaxy was surrounded by hundreds of fans. Despite its odd location, many attendees initially paid it little interest, but suddenly it jerked to a halt and reversed, colliding with one.
One man could then be seen kicking at the boot and punching the vehicle's rear window before it reversed again, hitting him harder.
Despite the masses of reddraped limbs pleading with the driver – several fans were heard to say: 'What're you doing?' – the car lurched forward, having by now rounded the ambulance it had followed.
Footage showed some supporters managing to open the driver's door, only for the man behind the wheel to wrench it closed again while beeping his horn and 'revving hard'. Eyewitness videos showed the vehicle had initially come to a halt where it was surrounded by hundreds of, by now, confused and apoplectic fans. Some were using weapons to attack the vehicle.
Suddenly, it accelerated rapidly. Bodies bounced off the bonnet as it swerved at speed. It slowed momentarily before accelerating again as dozens of people were knocked over like skittles, with others trapped underneath.
'Initially, we just heard the pop, pop, pop of people just being knocked off the bonnet of a car,' Harry Rashid, who had travelled to the celebrations from Solihull, said.
The footage showed fans being catapulted into the air, and some trapped under the wheels. Fire crews extracted four people, including a child, from under the vehicle.
A source told Extra.ie that the incident was 'more road rage, not terror'.
'It seems the driver was panicked or frightened or both, but what happened next was terrible,' they said.
Yesterday Britain's King Charles sent a message of support to Liverpudlians, saying: 'I know that the strength of community spirit for which your city is renowned will be a comfort and support to those in need.'
Last night, Jenny Sims, assistant chief constable of Merseyside Police, defended the policing of the event and insisted there had been a 'robust' traffic plan in place.
Ms Sims said there was no intelligence to suggest an attack was planned, and that armed police officers, including snipers who were deployed to rooftops around the city, were present as a safety measure. The incident is not being treated as terror-related.