A Cork based Liverpool FC supporter has described the panic that descended on the city after a car ploughed into a crowd of supporters at the club’s Premier League title celebration parade.
John Isherwood, who is a radio presenter and music producer at Cork's Red FM, was in Liverpool over the weekend for the Liverpool FC title celebrations. Speaking to The Echo, he has described his disbelief and shock in the aftermath of the incident.
Mr Isherwood was one of the hundreds of thousands of Liverpool FC fans who took to the streets of Liverpool on Monday for the team’s open top bus parade with the trophy.
Four people are still “very, very ill in hospital” after a car ploughed into a crowd during Liverpool’s Premier League victory parade, the city’s metro mayor has said.
A 53 year old man was arrested after the incident in Water Street in the city centre on Monday, and four children were among around 50 who were injured, including one child who was seriously hurt.
Police and emergency personnel dealing with a road traffic accident on Water Street near the Liver Building in Liverpool.
Merseyside Police said the suspect was the driver of the car, white, British and from the Liverpool area, and added that the incident was not being treated as terrorism.
Footage circulating online appeared to show people in the crowd following the Liverpool Football Club celebrations attempting to get close to the driver of the car, with one managing to open the driver’s car door.
Videos then appeared to show the driver close the car door before suddenly speeding up and veering into pedestrians on both sides of the crowded street.
Disbelief
Speaking to The Echo, Mr Isherwood described the how the mood in Liverpool changed in an instant, on what should have been a day and night of celebration.
He said: “It was like the air was sucked out of the room and the atmosphere changed within an instant. It completely flipped 180 degrees. The overriding thing was concern after this huge celebration.
I was euphoric when that Liverpool team bus passed in front of me. It was a great moment celebrating with all of the people around you. But then to turn and see this it completely changed. There was a lot of concern, but a huge amount of anger.
He added: “I know what went on and I know what happened and what I was doing at the moment. I can recall every single second of what happened. I can see this guy’s face on the floor who I tried to help. But I knew it was not for me to assist but a medical professional.
“I could see all of this happening around me, but I still can’t believe that it really did happen. Because this shouldn’t have happened.
“I keep trying to compute in my own mind why has this happened and what has been going on and how did that car get there and why was it there. I don’t understand that and I am still in a bit of disbelief of why it happened.”
Mr Isherwood said there have been huge displays of solidarity in the city already.
Solidarity
The city of Liverpool in the past has shown its solidarity and how it can come together to help each other out in a time of tragedy, such as following the Hillsbrough disaster, and Mr Isherwood said the good in the city of Liverpool and the people who live there will shine through in helping the city overcome the shock of the events of Monday night.
Liverpool is one of those incredibly unique cities, where rivalries can be put aside when the city is in distress and when the people who work there, who live there and who visit there are in a state of shock.
“It doesn’t matter who you are, you come together. Liverpool has done that countless times in the past and it will do it countless times in the future.
“The solidarity is there and everyone will help everyone. I don’t know if people saw this anywhere or on social media, but last night away from the videos and the speculation, people were offering their Wi-Fi, their cars, their beds and their sofas.
“People were stranded in Liverpool last night and people were helping. It didn’t matter whether you were from Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Ireland, Australia, it didn’t matter where you were from or who you were, there were people willing to help. That is what that city is all about and they will come together again.”