47 hurt after British man drives car into crowd during Liverpool’s title parade

LIVERPOOL - A car ploughed into a crowd of Liverpool fans during a parade celebrating the English football club’s Premier League title on May 27, injuring 47 people, including two seriously, but police said they did not believe the incident was terrorism-related.

Police said they had arrested a “53-year-old white British man from the Liverpool area,” whom they said was the driver of the vehicle which struck a large group of supporters who were celebrating in the city in north-west England.

Ambulance officials said 27 were taken to hospital, four of them children. One child and one adult were in a serious condition. Videos on social media showed people thrown into the air as the car rammed into spectators.

The UK ambulance service also said it treated another 20 people for minor injuries.

When the car stopped, angry fans converged on it and began smashing the windows as police officers intervened to prevent them from reaching the driver.

“We believe this to be an isolated incident, and we are not currently looking for anyone else in relation to it. The incident is not being treated as terrorism,” temporary Deputy Chief Constable Jenny Sims told reporters.

With most people off work for the Spring Bank Holiday, hundreds of thousands of fans gathered to watch the Liverpool team and their staff travel through the city centre on an open-top bus with the Premier League trophy.

The incident “cast a very dark shadow over what had been a joyous day,” Liverpool city council leader Liam Robinson said on social media.

Police were unusually quick to give a description of the man they arrested.

Dal Babu, a former chief superintendent in London’s Metropolitan Police, told the BBC this was an effort to cool social media speculation that the episode was an Islamist attack.

An AFP journalist in Liverpool saw at least four people taken away on stretchers, after witnesses reported seeing people knocked by a dark-coloured vehicle swerving through the huge crowds.

It was not immediately clear why the car collided with pedestrians at around 6pm.

The bus carrying the team had passed by on Water Street just minutes before the car rammed the crowd, witnesses told media.

“It was extremely fast,” said Mr Harry Rashid, 48, from Solihull, near Birmingham, central England, who was at the parade with his wife and two young daughters.

“Initially we just heard the pop, pop, pop of people just being knocked off the bonnet of the car,” he told reporters.

“It was horrible and you could hear the bumps as he was going over the people.”

Merseyside Police called for calm and said the arrested man was “a 53-year-old white British man from the Liverpool area”, and urged people not to speculate about what had happened.

Witness Mike Maddra said the “car turned left mounted pavement, come towards us and runs towards the buildings.”

He said “we got out the way and it was speeding up”.

Cordons were put in place and ambulances and a fire engine were also at the scene, with the injured being treated on the street.

‘Appalling’

North West Ambulance Service said its crews were “assessing the situation” with other emergency services.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the scenes in Liverpool “appalling”.

“My thoughts are with all those injured or affected,” he wrote on X, adding he was being updated on the investigation.

BBC reporter Matt Cole who was at the parade with his family said: “There were screams ahead of us and suddenly this dark blue car just came through the crowd.

“It just wasn’t stopping. I managed to grab my daughter who was with me and jump out of the way,” he said, adding the car “missed myself and my family by literally inches”.

Images shared on social media showed the car being brought to a halt and swarmed by angry fans, who broke the back windows as police sought to hold them back.

Liverpool had earlier been a sea of red as hundreds of thousands of supporters packed the city’s streets, on a national holiday, to

celebrate winning the Premier League title

with Arne Slot’s successful squad.

Star players Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk led the festivities alongside their team-mates on the top deck of the bus.

‘Difficult day’

Plumes of red smoke from flares had filled the air as the players took four hours to cover the 16km route.

Liverpool FC said on X they were working with Merseyside police, adding: “Our thoughts and prayers are with those who have been affected by this serious incident”.

And Liverpool metro mayor, Steve Rotheram, said it was “a difficult day for our city region, but we stand together”.

Everton, Liverpool’s Merseyside rivals also said the club’s “thoughts are with all those who have been affected by this serious incident in our city”.

Deposed Premier League champions Manchester City wrote: “The thoughts of everyone at Manchester City are with those injured or affected by the incident at Liverpool’s title-winning parade earlier today.”

Liverpool’s former captain Steven Gerrard posted an image on Instagram of the city with a red heart.

Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher wrote on X: “Devastating end to the day ... just pray everyone is ok.”

FIFA president Gianni Infantino offered “thoughts and prayers to all those affected”.

“Football stands together with Liverpool FC and all fans of the club following the horrific incident that has taken place during the trophy parade in the city,” he said in a statement.

Liverpool’s record-equalling 20th English top-flight title was secured nearly a month ago as Slot’s men wrapped up the Premier League with four games to spare.

However, they were only presented with the trophy after May 25’s final match against Crystal Palace.

Despite Liverpool’s storied history, the club’s fanbase had been waiting 35 years to collectively celebrate a league title.

When Jurgen Klopp’s side ended a 30-year drought without winning the league in 2020, there was no parade due to coronavirus restrictions.

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.

In 1985, 39 mainly Italian fans were killed when a wall collapsed amidst disturbances between Liverpool and Juventus fans at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels. REUTERS, AFP