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Scene of devastation after Liverpool FC parade crash
A child was among the four people seriously injured after a vehicle ploughed into a crowd in Liverpool city centre during the club’s Premier League victory parade.
Four children were among the 27 people rushed to hospital following the incident on Monday evening, while 20 others were treated at the scene for minor injuries, taking the toll of those hurt to nearly 50.
Police confirmed one child and an adult were seriously injured. Liverpool City Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram told BBC Radio 5 Live on Tuesday morning that four people are still “very, very ill in hospital”.
A 53-year-old man, who police described as white, British and from the Merseyside area, was arrested at the scene of the incident at 6pm on Monday, with Merseyside Police saying they believe him to be the driver. The force is not treating the incident as terrorism-related.
Footage circulating online appeared to show a vehicle speed up as it veered into pedestrians on both sides of the crowded street.
Witnesses described seeing a grey people carrier driving through the crowd before angry bystanders tried to smash its windows. One eyewitness, Natasha Rinaldi, said she could hear “screams and screams”, telling Sky News: “It was a horrible scene.”
Dan Ogunshakin, an off-duty BBC reporter attending the parade, told the broadcaster: “What had once been an atmosphere of celebration and joy and happiness suddenly turned into fear and terror and disbelief.”
Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer condemned the incident, calling the scenes “appalling” as he sent a message of unity, saying the city “stands together”.
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Liverpool City Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram has said the question in the forefront of everybody’s minds is why did a car end up in Water Street, Liverpool, on Monday night.
He told BBC Radio 5 Live: “The question, let’s be honest, that everybody’s sort of, it’s in the forefront of their minds is why did a car end up in Water Street and that’s for the police now to conclude their investigations, we’ll find out the reason why it was there.”
Liverpool City Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram has said the question in the forefront of everybody’s minds is why did a car end up in Water Street, Liverpool, on Monday night (PA Archive)
Tara Cobham27 May 2025 11:00
Sir Keir Starmer has said that it is a “matter for the police” that they gave details about the man who was arrested after a car ploughed into a crowd celebrating Liverpool’s Premier League win.
Asked if he would like to see similar details released in the future in similar cases, the Prime Minister said: “That is a matter for the police and the investigation is ongoing so I think we need to leave that to them.
“I think today is a day really for thinking about all those impacted by this and being absolutely clear that we stand with them.”
A witness has said he feared for his life during the incident in Liverpool on Monday evening.
Asked if he was scared in the aftermath, Harry Rashid said: “Absolutely I was scared, I’m a human being. You worry for your life don’t you?”
Tara Cobham27 May 2025 10:40
The Independent’s crime correspondent Amy-Clare Martin writes:
Within two hours of a car ploughing into crowds in Liverpool city centre, police had confirmed the alleged driver was a 53-year-old white man from the Merseyside area.
No doubt desperate to halt the spread of misinformation online, which had already begun to circulate on social media along with graphic footage of the incident, Merseyside Police made the unusual decision to share the suspect’s ethnicity and nationality at the earliest stages of the investigation.
It marks a “complete step change” in their approach to the response to the horrific knife attack in Southport last summer, police commentators have noted.
A vacuum of information in the aftermath of the stabbing at a children’s dance class was filled with misinformation about the suspect’s ethnicity and asylum status, which helped to fuel angry far-right riots which erupted across the country.
On that occasion, police had told the public they had arrested a 17-year-old from Banks in Lancashire, who was born in Cardiff, but it did little to quell the surge in inaccurate information being shared on social media.
The mass unrest illustrated all too starkly the new threat facing police responding to high profile incidents in an online age – the tinderbox of social media and weaponised misinformation.
After Monday’s attack at Liverpool’s Premier League victory parade, which wounded 50 and left thousands of shocked football fans stranded in the city centre, police acted faster.
Tara Cobham27 May 2025 10:31
Sir Keir Starmer has said “scenes of joy turned to utter horror and devastation” after a car ploughed into a crowd during Liverpool’s Premier League victory parade on Monday.
The prime minister said the whole country “stands with Liverpool” and the nation’s thoughts are with the victims and the wider community.
Sir Keir told reporters today: “Scenes of joy turned to utter horror and devastation, and my thoughts and the thoughts of the whole country are with all of those that are affected, those injured, which of course includes children, their families, their friends, the whole community, Liverpool fans everywhere.
“Liverpool stands together and the whole country stands with Liverpool. I’d like to thank the first responders who did a fantastic job last night and continue to do so. There’s now an ongoing investigation. I’m being kept updated, talking frequently to the mayor Steve Rotheram. But as I say, my thoughts and the thoughts of the whole country will be with everybody in Liverpool today.”
Sir Keir Starmer has said ‘scenes of joy turned to utter horror and devastation’ after a car ploughed into a crowd during Liverpool’s Premier League victory parade on Monday (Getty Images)
Tara Cobham27 May 2025 10:25
“Shocked and devastated” Jurgen Klopp has told those affected by the Liverpool parade car crash “you’ll never walk alone” as he spoke about the incident for the first time.
The former Liverpool boss wrote on Instagram this morning: “My family and I are shocked and devastated, our thoughts and prayers are with all those who are injured and affected. You’ll never walk alone.”
Mr Klopp had been at the parade, sharing images of the celebratory scenes on social media before the horror unfolded.
Jurgen Klopp has said he is ‘shocked and devasted’ as he spoke about the Liverpool parade car crash for the first time (AP)
Tara Cobham27 May 2025 10:18
A former Metropolitan Police chief superintendent said it was “unprecedented” that the police “very quickly” gave the ethnicity and race of the suspect in the Liverpool incident.
Dal Babu told BBC Radio 5 Live: “What we do have, which is unprecedented, is the police very quickly giving the ethnicity and the race of the person who was driving the vehicle and I think that was, and it was Merseyside Police who didn’t give that information with the Southport horrific murders of those three girls, and the rumours were that it was an asylum seeker who arrived on a boat and it was a Muslim extremist and that wasn’t the case.
“So I think what the police have done very very quickly, and I’ve never known a case like this before where they’ve given the ethnicity and the race of the individual who was involved in it, so I think that was to dampen down some of the speculation from the far-right that sort of continues on X even as we speak that this was a Muslim extremist and there’s a conspiracy theory.”
Asked if it was a result of Merseyside Police having learned the lessons from what happened after Southport, he said: “Yeah, absolutely, I think you’re spot on. It’s remarkably striking because police will not release that kind of information because they’ll be worried about prejudicing any future trial, but I think they have to balance that against the potential of public disorder and we had massive public disorder after the far-right extremists had spread these rumours.”
He added: “The difficulty we have is in the olden days, when I was policing, you would have a conversation with trusty journalists, print journalists, radio journalists, broadcasting journalists, you’d have a conversation and say look can you please hold fire on sharing this information and people would listen, we don’t have that with social media, it’s like the wild west and anything goes and so puts the police in a very, very difficult position.”
Tara Cobham27 May 2025 10:10
Bottles, glasses, used fireworks and Liverpool flags could be seen in Water street on Tuesday morning, along with a paramedic’s coat and kit box.
A mobile police station was parked on the road and officers stood at entrances to the street.
The police cordon stretched back past the Town Hall, along Dale Street to Moorfields, where traffic was being diverted away from the road.
Outside the India Buildings on Water Street a white tent was in the road and Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service screens were around a parked ambulance.
The large blue tent was slightly further down the road.
An inflatable field tent at the scene in Water Street near the Liver Building in Liverpool (Peter Byrne/PA Wire)
Tara Cobham27 May 2025 10:00
A witness has told of hearing shouting and seeing people lying on the floor in Liverpool on Monday night as she questioned: “How did a car get down there?”
Hannah told BBC Radio 5 Live: “It was just too many people, you couldn’t actually see what had happened. All you could hear was like shouting, shouting, and I just knew something had happened.
“The roads are closed, how did a car get down there anyway?
“You see people lying on the floor, all I can remember is just the police going ‘everyone go now, now, leave’, they ushered us all off and they were screaming.”
Tara Cobham27 May 2025 09:52
Liverpool FC have postponed more events following the parade car crash, according to leaked emails.
The BBC reported the club has now put on hold multiple internal staff events that were planned for today to celebrate their Premier League title win.
The broadcaster cited an internal email sent last night in which staff were also told the club “will continue to offer our full support to the emergency services and local authorities” as well as to those affected.
Tara Cobham27 May 2025 09:40
