Dozens injured after driver plows through crowd of Liverpool soccer fans during victory parade
Police arrested the driver of a minivan on Monday after authorities say he plowed into a crowd of Liverpool, United Kingdom, soccer fans, injuring dozens who were celebrating the city's soccer team's Premier League Championship.
Police identified the driver as a 53-year-old British man from the Liverpool area. Police also said they believe this was an isolated incident, adding that they do not believe anyone else was involved. The incident is not being investigated as an act of terrorism.
Dave Kitchin of North West Air Ambulance said during a press conference on Monday that 27 people were taken to the hospital, with two suffering serious injuries, and another 20 people were treated at the scene for minor injuries. At least four children were injured. One of those children sustained serious injuries.
Firefighters who responded to the scene had to lift the van to free three adults and one child, who were trapped beneath it. A cyclist paramedic on the scene was also struck by the van, though authorities said he did not sustain injuries.
Merseyside Police said in a post on X that it was investigating reports of a collision in Liverpool city center, after being contacted after 6 p.m. on Monday that a car had collided with multiple pedestrians on Water Street.
Police added that the vehicle stopped at the scene and a man was detained.
"We would ask people not to speculate on the circumstances surrounding tonight's incident on Water Street in Liverpool city centre," police said in another post. "We can confirm the man arrested is a 53-year-old white British man from the Liverpool area. Extensive [inquiries] are ongoing to establish the circumstances leading up to the collision."
Police asked the public to not share "distressing content" online, but instead to send the footage or information to the Merseyside Police or to Crimestoppers.
Video posted to social media prior to the police department's request to not share information online, showed a gray minivan striking at least one pedestrian before veering into a larger crowd of people, carving a path through the group and pushing bodies along the street like a plow before coming to a stop.
The Associated Press spoke with Harry Rashid, who was at the Liverpool parade with his wife and two young daughters.
Rashid said the car began ramming people about 10 feet away from him.
"It was extremely fast," he said. "Initially, we just heard the pop, pop, pop of people just being knocked off the bonnet of a car."
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a post on X that he was being kept up to date on developments regarding the situation and asked that police be given the space needed to conduct their investigation.
"The scenes in Liverpool are appalling – my thoughts are with all those injured or affected," he wrote. "I want to thank the police and emergency services for their swift and ongoing response to this shocking incident."
The incident came after a large celebration in the city center, where tens of thousands of dancing, scarf-and-flag-waving fans braved wet weather to line the streets and watch Liverpool's players display the Premier League trophy from on top of two buses bearing the words, "Ours Again."
Rashid told the AP that after the van struck its initial victims, it stopped and the crowd charged the vehicle, smashing its windows.
"But then he put his foot down again and just plowed through the rest of them, he just kept going," Rashid said, alleging the incident appeared deliberate. "It was horrible. And you could hear the bumps as he was going over the people."
"My daughter started screaming and there were people on the ground," he added. "They were just innocent people, just fans going to enjoy the parade."
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