Police say a male suspect is taken into custody after a automobile collides with a number of pedestrians in Liverpool.
A person has been arrested after driving a automobile right into a crowd in Liverpool throughout a parade to have fun Liverpool FC’s Premier League soccer title, emergency providers say.
Merseyside Police in northwest England mentioned they had been contacted simply after 6pm (17:00 GMT) on Monday “following stories a automobile had been in collision with a variety of 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 ascertain the circumstances main as much as the collision,” police mentioned. “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 automobile swerving into the dense crowd on the finish of the celebrations as gamers confirmed off the trophy on an open-topped bus by means of town.
Harry Rashid, who was on the parade together with his spouse and two younger daughters, advised The Related Press information company the automobile started ramming folks about 3 metres (10ft) away from him.
“It was extraordinarily quick,” Rashid mentioned. “Initially, we simply heard the pop, pop, pop of individuals simply being knocked off the bonnet of a automobile.”
Crowds and uniformed cops shortly surrounded the car 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 mentioned he was being saved up to date concerning 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 stunning incident,” Starmer mentioned 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 town to seemingly sign the tip of the parade.
Rashid mentioned after the automobile struck its preliminary victims, it got here to a halt and the group charged the car and commenced smashing home windows.
“However then he put his foot down once more and simply ploughed by means of the remainder of them. He simply saved going,” Rashid mentioned. “It was horrible. And you may hear the bumps as he was going over the folks.”
Rashid mentioned it seemed deliberate and he was in shock and disbelief.
“My daughter began screaming, and there have been folks on the bottom,” he mentioned. “They had been simply harmless folks, simply followers going to benefit from the parade.”
In the meantime, Liverpool mentioned in a submit on X that it was in direct contact with police concerning the occasion. “Our ideas and prayers are with those that have been affected by this critical incident,” the workforce mentioned.