A car drove into a huge crowd of Liverpool fans celebrating their Premier League title win this evening, and police arrested a man after the horror parade crash
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Liverpool parade: Police at incident as car ploughed into fans
A large number of people were rushed to hospital after a car drove through a crowd in Liverpool, police confirmed. The man arrested at the scene was the driver of the vehicle, Merseyside Police confirmed.
Two people have serious injuries after the incident, including a child, according to Dave Kitchin, from North West Ambulance Service. He said 27 people were taken to hospital, and 20 separate people were treated at the scene. Four children in total were injured during the incident.
Four people were also trapped underneath a vehicle, including three adults and one child. Merseyside Police Assistant Chief Constable Jenny Sims said it wasn’t being treated as terrorism.
Merseyside Police said it was called to an incident on Water Street shortly after 6pm, on the day Liverpool were celebrating their Premier League title win with their fans. A dark grey people-carrier was seen driving through the crowd, ploughing into dozens of fans while relentless beeping its horn.
The car reportedly stalled mid-way through the street, before later continuing to accelerate into the crowd. Horrific footage at the scene showed numerous people thrown to the floor as the car continued to accelerate.
It subsequently came to a stop in the middle of Water Street, and police rushed in to surround the vehicle.
Earlier this evening, Merseyside Police confirmed it had arrested a 53-year-old White British man from the Liverpool area.
A police statement read: “We would ask people not to speculate on the circumstances surrounding tonight’s incident on Water Street in Liverpool city centre. Extensive enquiries are ongoing to establish the circumstances leading up to the collision.
“We would ask people not to share distressing content online but to send the footage or information directly to us @MerPolCC or pass on information by calling 101 quoting log 784.”
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer described “appalling” scenes after witnesses said a people carrier ploughed into people who had been celebrating in the city centre.
NHS University Hospitals of Liverpool Group urged members of the public to refrain from calling to ask about loved ones after the incident because next of kin would be contacted.
Liverpool Football Club said it was in contact with the force and would “continue to offer our full support to the emergency services and local authorities who are dealing with this incident”.
Footage circulating online on Monday appeared to show the vehicle speed up as it veered into pedestrians on both sides of the crowded street.
Officers surrounded the car as witnesses attempted to stop the driver, who was eventually detained by police.
One witness, 28-year-old Matthew O’Carroll, from Runcorn, said the back window of the car was smashed in the incident.
He said: “We were walking up Water Street and approaching the top of the road and the vehicle came past a parked police van at a decent speed. People managed to get out of the way as he was beeping as he went through but as he went past, people were obviously very angry and so started running after the car. The back window of the car was already smashed.
“I thought that once it went past us, it was just someone that was trying to get away from something and would slow down when he got to more people.”
Emergency services were quickly at the scene and several casualties were taken away by ambulances. A large police cordon was put in place on Water Street and emergency vehicles could be seen lining the road.
A conscious man on a stretcher was seen being put into an ambulance and the paramedic told police he believed the Liverpool Royal Hospital may be overwhelmed.
Police lined the junction of Castle Street and Water Street and firefighters were also at the scene. A large blue tent was erected in Water Street, with two fire engines parked in front. An ambulance incident unit was parked nearby before driving away. A police van and car blocked Water Street, and other police vehicles were parked along The Strand.
Harry Rashid, 48, from Solihull, was at the parade with his wife and two young daughters when he witnessed the collision. He said: “This grey people carrier just pulled up from the right and just rammed into all the people at the side of us.
“It was extremely fast. Initially, we just heard the pop, pop, pop of people just being knocked off the bonnet of a car.”
Another witness, who was walking with a group of friends, said he saw a car “speeding up” and hitting pedestrians.
Mike Maddra told the PA news agency the “car turned left, mounted pavement, come towards us and runs towards the buildings. We got out the way and it was speeding up”.
He thought he saw two people being hit and added: “It looked deliberate” and “it has just ruined the day really”.
In a statement, Sir Keir Starmer said: “The scenes in Liverpool are appalling – my thoughts are with all those injured or affected.”
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