Wednesday 28 / May / 2025
Liverpool: Police in the United Kingdom on Monday arrested a British man after a car drove into a crowd of people who were celebrating Liverpool Football Club's Premier League win.
"We can confirm the man arrested is a 53-year-old white British man from the Liverpool area," Merseyside police said in a statement posted on their website.
Police have said they do not think the car-ramming was terrorism-related.
"We believe this to be an isolated incident and we are not currently looking for anyone else in relation to it," Merseyside Police Assistant Chief Constable Jenny Sims said, adding that "the incident is not currently being treated as terrorism."
At least 27 people have been hospitalised, two of whom sustained serious injuries, the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) said. Four children were among the injured, including one whose injuries were "deemed serious."
In addition to those hospitalized, 20 people were treated at the scene, NWAS added.
The Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service said its crews found "numerous injured people" and had to remove four people, including a child, who were trapped under a vehicle.
Harry Rashid, who was at the parade with his wife and two young daughters, told AP news agency that the car began ramming people about 10 feet (3 meters) away from him.
"It was extremely fast," Rashid said. "Initially, we just heard the pop, pop, pop of people just being knocked off the bonnet of a car."
Rashid added that the crowd charged at the vehicle and began smashing its windows, before the driver "just plowed through the rest of them, he just kept going."
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer expressed shock at the scenes from Liverpool and expressed his thanks to first responders.
"The scenes in Liverpool are appalling — my thoughts are with all those injured or affected. I want to thank the police and emergency services for their swift and ongoing response to this shocking incident," Starmer said in a post on social media platform X.
"I’m being kept updated on developments and ask that we give the police the space they need to investigate," Starmer added.
Liverpool FC had taken part in an open-bus parade through the city to celebrate the season's triumph.
Over one million people were attending the event, which was held on a bank holiday, meaning most people had the day off work.
The football club said it was in direct contact with local authorities and that the incident had taken place towards the end of the trophy parade.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with those who have been affected by this serious incident. We will continue to offer our full support to the emergency services and local authorities who are dealing with this incident," Liverpool FC said on X.
