Police tents surrounded by debris at the scene in Water Street near the Liver Building in Liverpool city centre
Police tents surrounded by debris at the scene in Water Street near the Liver Building in Liverpool city centre
The driver of a car that careered into pedestrians at the Liverpool FC title parade may have been trying to tail an ambulance through the throng before striking and injuring scores of people.
A 53-year-old man was arrested following the distressing scenes on Water Street on Monday evening where a car ploughed into crowds, who had congregated in the city centre to witness Liverpool's Premier League victory parade.
It has been verified that a minimum of 47 people were injured as the vehicle struck the crowd, with 27 - including two children - taken to hospital for treatment. Today, Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram stated that four individuals remained "very, very ill" in hospital.
Merseyside Police are conducting thorough investigations to determine the circumstances leading up to the incident, with questions being raised about how the car managed to access a key city centre road that had been shut off to traffic due to the parade.
The ECHO understands that one line of enquiry is that the car was tailing or attempting to tail an ambulance that was navigating through the crowd. This may have prompted some of the assembled crowd to try and halt the vehicle before it then surged forward and ploughed into the crowds, injuring numerous people.
The scene in Water Street near the Liver Building in Liverpool city centre after a 53-year-old white British man was arrested when a car ploughed into a crowd of people during Liverpool FC's Premier League victory parade. (Image: Peter Byrne/PA Wire)
The ECHO has heard from multiple sources that the idea that the driver tailgated an ambulance is a working theory for how the car gained access to Water Street. It is understood that the police are considering this as a line of enquiry. The ECHO has chosen not to share distressing video which shows the events.
Speaking about the driver of the car and any potential motive during a press conference on Monday evening, Merseyside Police Assistant Chief Constable Jenny Sims said: "The car stopped at the scene and a 53-year-old white British man from the Liverpool area was arrested. We believe him to be the driver of the vehicle.
"What I can tell you is that we believe this to be an isolated incident and we are not currently looking for anyone else in relation to it. The incident is not currently being treated as terrorism."
Police tents surrounded by debris at the scene in Water Street near the Liver Building in Liverpool city centre (Image: Peter Byrne/PA Wire)
One person who witnessed the horrific aftermath of the incident was Dumisani Moyo, who had travelled up from London to watch the parade and was staying with friends and family at an Airbnb in Water Street, just yards from where the grim scenes unfolded.
He told the ECHO: "We got back here just after it had happened. We weren't able to go back into our accommodation.
"It was mayhem, it had just happened. People were trying to get to the driver and the police were trying to create their cordon to stop people getting onto the scene.
"It was really horrific stuff. The car was still there, we could see it. People were lying hurt on the floor.
"It had been a beautiful day, the people of Liverpool are great, we had a wonderful time and then that happened. We couldn't get into our accommodation until about 11pm. But we are ok, we are safe and we pray for the people who got hurt. We wish them the best."
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