A driver who ploughed into crowds joyfully celebrating Liverpool football club’s Premier League win is being held on suspicion of attempted murder and taking drugs, Merseyside police said today.
As football fans from the UK and abroad rallied around the port city, the police revealed that 11 people still remained in hospital in stable condition out of the 65 injured in yesterday‘s shocking scenes.
The team’s victory parade was ending in the city centre when the driver of a Ford Galaxy followed an ambulance through a lifted roadblock and ploughed into the crowds, Merseyside police said.
A 53-year-old white British man was arrested, with police swiftly ruling out terrorism. He was being held “on suspicion of attempted murder, dangerous driving and driving while unfit through drugs”, assistant chief constable Jenny Sims told a press conference.
“An extensive investigation into the precise circumstances of the incident is ongoing,” Sims added.
Messages of support have flooded in from around the world.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who are injured and affected. You’ll never walk alone,” said former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, echoing the club’s famous anthem which only hours before had echoed joyfully around the city.
King Charles, who is currently visiting Canada, said he was “deeply shocked and saddened”.
“It is truly devastating to see that what should have been a joyous celebration for so many could end in such distressing circumstances,” he said in a statement.
The car slammed into dense crowds on Water St just after an open-topped bus parade with Liverpool manager Arne Slot and star players including Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk passed by.
Four children were among those hurt, including one seriously.
Hundreds of fans gathered at Liverpool’s Anfield stadium today, many having travelled from around the globe to join the celebrations.
While there was relief no one was killed, there was shock that a day of pride and delight had ended in tragedy.
“It’s devastating... We were all there for the joy of the day,” said Adrian Chan, 35, from Singapore.
Michael Skabara, 28, a bar owner from Poland and a Liverpool fan for 20 years, was on his first visit. He vowed he would be back.
“After what happened yesterday, I am definitely coming to a game as soon as I can. Life is too short,” he said.
Images on social media showed the car ploughing through a crowd, running over people and others bouncing off its bonnet.
In other clips, the vehicle was halted and swarmed by angry fans, who smashed the back windows as police sought to hold them back.
“We could just see a commotion and a wave of people running back towards us,” Adam Hughes, 35, told AFP. “It was pandemonium.”
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” of the emergency services, adding that “the whole country stands with Liverpool”.
“Our anthem has never felt more appropriate, ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’,” legendary former Liverpool player and manager Kenny Dalglish said.
Everton, Liverpool’s Merseyside rivals, said their “thoughts are with all those who have been affected”.
And great club 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 the ethnicity of the suspect yesterday, a move one former police chief termed “unprecedented”.
“I think that was to dampen down some of the speculation from the far right,” 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.
- AFP