Four people remain “very, very ill in hospital” after a car drove into a crowd of Liverpool fans celebrating their Premier League title, according to the city’s mayor. He expressed hope that they would “pull through.”
British police believe the incident, which occurred in a packed Liverpool city center on Monday, was isolated and not an act of terrorism. However, they have not yet disclosed the motive or how the driver was able to access the closed-off street.
Videos circulating online showed a grey vehicle driving through the crowded street, sending several people into the air and dragging at least four underneath its wheels.
As the car came to a stop, angry fans swarmed the vehicle and began smashing the windows as police officers struggled to restrain them from reaching the driver.
Police reported late Monday that 20 people were treated at the scene, and 27 were taken to hospital, including children.
Liverpool City Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram told the BBC that “still four people who are very, very ill in hospital,” adding, “We are hoping of course that they pull through.”
With many people off work for the Spring Bank Holiday, officials estimated that approximately one million people gathered along the 10-mile parade route to watch the Liverpool team and staff travel through the city center on an open-top bus with the Premier League trophy.
Liverpool last won the league during the COVID pandemic, when celebrations were prohibited due to lockdowns.
Police stated that the car struck the spectators as the event was concluding. A Reuters photographer at the scene witnessed emergency services carrying victims on stretchers and in their arms to nearby ambulances.
Police were unusually quick to release a description of the arrested individual, stating about two hours after the incident that they had arrested a “53-year-old white British man from the Liverpool area.”
Former police officers and local politicians suggested that the prompt statement was necessary to quell social media speculation that the incident was an Islamist attack.
“That was one of my first concerns, that we needed to get the story out quickly,” Mayor Rotheram told the BBC. “If there’s a vacuum, we know there are some elements that will try to inflame the situation and to create that speculation and to put misinformation out there.”
The same police force managed the response to the murder of three young girls in Southport last year, an incident that triggered days of rioting, initially fueled by online speculation regarding the attacker’s identity.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer thanked the emergency services for their swift response, stating, “Everyone, especially children, should be able to celebrate their heroes without this horror.”
