Liverpool Parade Crash Leaves 4 Critical, Dozens Injured
LIVERPOOL: Britain was in shock on Tuesday as at least four people in a serious condition were receiving hospital treatment after a car ploughed into a crowd celebrating Liverpool's Premier League football victory.
A 53-year-old white British man, believed to be the driver of the car, was arrested after Monday evening's incident, although police said they were not treating it as terrorism.
'There are still four people who are very, very ill in hospital and we are hoping of course that they pull through,' Steve Rotheram, mayor of the Liverpool metro region, told BBC radio.
The morning newspapers splashed images of the incident across their front pages.
Headlines such as 'Carnage at parade' in the Daily Mail and 'Liverpool glory turns to horror' in The Daily Telegraph summed up what had started as a jubilant night for the Reds, who paraded through the city to celebrate a record-equalling 20th English league title.
In a late night press conference, emergency workers said almost 50 people were injured. A total of 27 football fans were taken to hospital, while 20 others were treated at the scene.
Four children were among those hurt, including one seriously.
A police cordon remained in place on Tuesday morning at the site, where litter from the previous night's festivities was strewn across the street.
'Pandemonium'
'We believe this to be an isolated incident, and we are not currently looking for anyone else in relation to it,' Merseyside Police Assistant Chief Constable Jenny Sims told reporters.
'The incident is not being treated as terrorism,' she added.
Hundreds of thousands of people had turned out in torrential rain to see the northwest English side's victory parade, many of them having travelled from across the country and abroad to celebrate.
The bus carrying the team had passed nearby just minutes before the car ran into the crowd on Water Street, witnesses said.
'We could just see a commotion and a wave of people running back towards us,' Liverpool fan Adam Hughes, 35, told AFP.
'The police were screaming at people to get away... It was pandemonium.'
Roger Downey, a supporter who was at the parade with his wife, said that 'panic' had set in amongst the crowd after police rushed past to try and stop the vehicle.
Four people, including a child, were trapped under the car which had to be lifted to free them, fire services said.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer commended the 'remarkable bravery shown by the police and other emergency services'.
'They are supporting and caring for those injured in these terrible events,' he said, adding that 'the whole country stands with Liverpool'.
Images shared on social media showed the car ploughing through a crowd, running over people and others bouncing off its bonnet.
Other clips showed the vehicle being brought to a halt and swarmed by angry fans, who smashed the back windows as police sought to hold them back.
Liverpool had earlier on Monday been a sea of red as supporters packed the city's streets to celebrate winning the Premier League title with manager Arne Slot and star players including Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk.
Football world united
Liverpool FC said on X that they were working with Merseyside police, adding: 'Our thoughts and prayers are with those who have been affected by this serious incident.'
The football world united behind the club as Everton, Liverpool's Merseyside rivals, said their 'thoughts are with all those who have been affected'.
Great rivals Manchester United wrote: 'Our thoughts are with LFC and the city of Liverpool after today's awful incident.'
Liverpool's football history has been shadowed by tragedy.
In 1989, 97 Liverpool fans died in a crush at a game in the Hillsborough stadium in Sheffield.
More than 760 people were also injured in the deadliest disaster in British sporting history, which still scars the port city.
Police were quick to share details about the suspect on Monday, including his ethnicity following the crash, which one former police chief termed 'unprecedented'.
'I think that was to dampen down some of the speculation from the far-right that sort of continues on X,' former Metropolitan Police chief superintendent Dal Babu told BBC radio.
Almost a year ago, Liverpool and north England saw the worst riots in decades after false rumours spread that the attacker who stabbed three girls to death in nearby Southport was a Muslim immigrant.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Straits Times
4 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Briton's death: How did backpacker enter construction site, asks Lee
KUALA LUMPUR: The authorities must investigate how a 25-year-old British national managed to trespass onto a construction site before falling into an elevator shaft. Alliance for a Safe Community chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye questioned whether proper safety measures were in place, describing the incident as preventable. "The responsibility falls on the shoulders of the contractors and those managing the work site," he said. "Was there any signage at the site or a barricade? Were there any security personnel present? If they were on duty, they would not have allowed him to go through." He added that the company carrying out construction must conduct an internal investigation to prevent recurrence. Lee, who is also the former chairman of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, stressed that construction sites were legally required to have security measures in place to prevent trespassing. A construction work contractor is required to identify the perimeter of a construction site with a suitable sign and fence the area off under regulation 20(2) of the Occupational Safety and Health (Construction Work) (Design and Management) Regulations 2024. Anyone who violates the regulation may be liable to a fine not exceeding RM500,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or both. On Thursday, the police confirmed that missing British backpacker Jordan Johnson-Doyle was found dead in an elevator shaft of a partially under-construction condominium in Bangsar here. A post-mortem showed that the cause of death was a chest injury due to a fall from height.
The Sun
16 hours ago
- The Sun
Three men to go on trial next year over fires linked to UK PM Starmer
LONDON: Three men all linked to Ukraine will go on trial next April accused of involvement in a series of arson attacks on houses and a vehicle in London connected to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, a London court heard on Friday. Over five days last month, police were called to fires at a house in north London owned by Starmer, another at a property nearby where he used to live, and to a blaze involving a car that also used to belong to the British leader. Ukrainian Roman Lavrynovych, 21, is charged with three counts of arson with intent to endanger life. Fellow Ukrainian Petro Pochynok, 34, and Romanian national Stanislav Carpiuc, 26, who was born in Ukraine, are accused of conspiracy to commit arson. Lavrynovych and Carpiuc appeared by video-link at London's Old Bailey court on Friday where Judge Bobbie Cheema-Grubb set the trial for April 27 next year. Pochynok was not present for the hearing. In earlier hearings, prosecutors said the motive for the arsons was unclear. The men will enter formal pleas at a hearing in October, but the lawyers for Carpiuc and Pochynok said their clients denied involvement. Counter-terrorism police have led the investigation but none of the men have been charged with offences under terrorism laws or the new National Security Act, which was brought in to target hostile state activity. Police said the first fire involved a Toyota RAV4 car that Starmer used to own and sold to a neighbour. Days later, there was a blaze at a property where Starmer previously resided and the following day there was an attack on a house in north London that he still owns. Starmer, who has lived at his official 10 Downing Street residence in central London since becoming prime minister last July, has called the incidents 'an attack on all of us, on our democracy and the values we stand for'. Earlier this week a fourth man, aged 48, who had been arrested at London Stansted Airport in connection with the arson, was released on police bail.
The Sun
16 hours ago
- The Sun
Three men to face trial for arson linked to UK PM Starmer
LONDON: Three men all linked to Ukraine will go on trial next April accused of involvement in a series of arson attacks on houses and a vehicle in London connected to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, a London court heard on Friday. Over five days last month, police were called to fires at a house in north London owned by Starmer, another at a property nearby where he used to live, and to a blaze involving a car that also used to belong to the British leader. Ukrainian Roman Lavrynovych, 21, is charged with three counts of arson with intent to endanger life. Fellow Ukrainian Petro Pochynok, 34, and Romanian national Stanislav Carpiuc, 26, who was born in Ukraine, are accused of conspiracy to commit arson. Lavrynovych and Carpiuc appeared by video-link at London's Old Bailey court on Friday where Judge Bobbie Cheema-Grubb set the trial for April 27 next year. Pochynok was not present for the hearing. In earlier hearings, prosecutors said the motive for the arsons was unclear. The men will enter formal pleas at a hearing in October, but the lawyers for Carpiuc and Pochynok said their clients denied involvement. Counter-terrorism police have led the investigation but none of the men have been charged with offences under terrorism laws or the new National Security Act, which was brought in to target hostile state activity. Police said the first fire involved a Toyota RAV4 car that Starmer used to own and sold to a neighbour. Days later, there was a blaze at a property where Starmer previously resided and the following day there was an attack on a house in north London that he still owns. Starmer, who has lived at his official 10 Downing Street residence in central London since becoming prime minister last July, has called the incidents 'an attack on all of us, on our democracy and the values we stand for'. Earlier this week a fourth man, aged 48, who had been arrested at London Stansted Airport in connection with the arson, was released on police bail.
