At least 47 people, including four children, were injured after a car plowed into a crowd during a victory parade for Liverpool’s Premier League soccer title on Monday, according to police.
Police arrested a male suspect after the car stopped at the scene. Merseyside Police Assistant Chief Constable Jenny Sims said the suspect is a 53-year-old white British man from the Liverpool area.
Dave Kitchin of North West Ambulance Service said that 27 people were hospitalized with injuries, while 20 others were treated at the scene. Among them were four children, one of whom sustained serious injuries.
A cyclist paramedic was struck by the vehicle but was not injured. Kitchin said that some patients self-presented at local hospitals following the “significant incident.”
Nick Searle, chief fire officer at the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service, said that four people were trapped under the vehicle and have since been rescued.
“Our crews rapidly lifted the vehicle, removed people from beneath and passed them to our ambulance colleagues,” Searle told reporters, adding that fire crews will maintain a presence in the area in the coming days.
Footage shared on social media showed a gray minivan surrounded by people and police on the parade route, before it ploughed into the crowd, pushing people along the street before it came to a stop, surrounded by outraged fans.
Harry Rashid, who joined the parade with his wife and two children, told The Associated Press that the car was moving “extremely fast.”
“Initially, we just heard the pop, pop, pop of people just being knocked off the bonnet of a car,” Rashid said. Once the car stopped, the crowd surged toward it and began smashing the windows, he said.
“But then he put his foot down again and just plowed through the rest of them, he just kept going,” he stated. “It was horrible. And you could hear the bumps as he was going over the people.”
Another witness, Peter Jones, told the news outlet that the vehicle passed by him as people chased after it to try to stop it.
“He then drove into people, police, and medics ran past us, and people were being treated on the side of the road,” Jones said.
Police are still investigating the circumstances that led to the collision. Sims has urged people to refrain from sharing “distressing footage” from the incident.
“What I can tell you is that we believe this to be an isolated incident and we are not currently looking for anyone else in relation to it,” Sims said. “The incident is not currently being treated as terrorism.”
“The scenes in Liverpool are appalling—my thoughts are with all those injured or affected,” Starmer said.
“Once again, our hearts go out to all of those affected,” Robinson said. “Liverpool is a city that has a proud history of coming together and supporting each other during challenging times. I’ve no doubt that will again be the case over the coming days and weeks.”
