Police say a male suspect is taken into custody after a automotive collides with a number of pedestrians in Liverpool.
A person has been arrested after driving a automotive right into a crowd in Liverpool throughout a parade to rejoice Liverpool FC’s Premier League soccer title, emergency providers say.
Merseyside Police in northwest England stated they had been contacted simply after 6pm (17:00 GMT) on Monday “following experiences a automotive had been in collision with various pedestrians”.
The PA Media information company, quoting police, reported the arrested man is a “53-year-old white British man from the Liverpool space”.
“Intensive enquiries are ongoing to determine the circumstances main as much as the collision,” police stated. “We’d ask folks to not speculate on the circumstances surrounding tonight’s incident.”
There was no rapid phrase from authorities about how many individuals had been injured.
Social media footage appeared to indicate a dark-coloured automotive swerving into the dense crowd on the finish of the celebrations as gamers confirmed off the trophy on an open-topped bus by the town.
Harry Rashid, who was on the parade together with his spouse and two younger daughters, informed The Related Press information company the automotive started ramming folks about 3 metres (10ft) away from him.
“It was extraordinarily quick,” Rashid stated. “Initially, we simply heard the pop, pop, pop of individuals simply being knocked off the bonnet of a automotive.”
Crowds and uniformed cops rapidly surrounded the automobile and a number of other folks mendacity on the bottom.
Cordons had been put in place, and a hearth engine was additionally on the scene.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated he was being stored up to date in regards to the incident.
“The scenes in Liverpool are appalling – my ideas are with all these injured or affected. I wish to thank the police and emergency providers for his or her swift and ongoing response to this surprising incident,” Starmer stated on social media.
The incident adopted a big celebration within the metropolis centre, the place tens of 1000’s of dancing, scarf- and flag-waving followers braved moist climate to line the streets and watch Liverpool’s gamers show the Premier League trophy atop two buses bearing the phrases “Ours Once more”.
The hours-long procession – surrounded by a thick layer of police and safety – crawled alongside a 10-mile (16km) route and thru a sea of purple smoke and rain. Fireworks exploded from the Royal Liver Constructing within the coronary heart of the town to seemingly sign the tip of the parade.
Rashid stated after the automotive struck its preliminary victims, it got here to a halt and the group charged the automobile and started smashing home windows.
“However then he put his foot down once more and simply ploughed by the remainder of them. He simply stored going,” Rashid stated. “It was horrible. And you can hear the bumps as he was going over the folks.”
Rashid stated it seemed deliberate and he was in shock and disbelief.
“My daughter began screaming, and there have been folks on the bottom,” he stated. “They had been simply harmless folks, simply followers going to benefit from the parade.”
In the meantime, Liverpool stated in a submit on X that it was in direct contact with police in regards to the occasion. “Our ideas and prayers are with those that have been affected by this critical incident,” the staff stated.