The mood in Liverpool had been jubilant. Paul O’Brien and his family had flown in from Ireland to celebrate their soccer team’s Premier League title. “Everyone’s singing all day, everyone having a good time, everyone talking to one another,” Mr. O’Brien recalled.

“And then — ”

Standing along Water Street in the heart of Liverpool on Monday, Mr. O’Brien, his son and his parents suddenly found themselves being shoved, hard, by a surging crowd. Out of nowhere, a dark gray car was barreling down a street jammed with pedestrians. Had it not been for the people pushing them out of the way, Mr. O’Brien said on Tuesday, they might have been in the vehicle’s path.

“We didn’t realize until we were pushed,” Mr. O’Brien said. “And then we actually realized, ‘Oh, something went on here.’ There were people lying on the ground. But the people of Liverpool were amazing. Those people were very brave to push kids and people out of the way.”

The parade for the Liverpool soccer team before the disaster.Credit…Owen Humphreys/Press Association, via Associated Press

In an instant, a joyful day had turned dark. Around 6 p.m. Monday, the police said, a 53-year-old British man plowed his vehicle into the crowd, injuring 65 people, including 27 who were sent to hospitals. Two people, including a child, were seriously injured. A fire department spokesman said that four people had to be pulled from underneath the car.

At a news conference on Tuesday, the British police said that the driver of the car, a seven-seat Ford Galaxy minivan, had gained access to Water Street, which had been closed for the parade, by slipping behind an ambulance when a barrier was moved. The ambulance had been called for a member of the public who appeared to be having a heart attack.

The car swerved

into a large crowd

on Water Street.

The car stopped

here after hitting

dozens of people.

Direction of

soccer parade

The car swerved

into a large crowd

on Water Street.

The car stopped

here after hitting

dozens of people.

Direction of

soccer parade

Source: Satellite image by Google Earth

By Josh Holder

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