Police looking at whether driver may have followed an emergency crew to gain access to Water Street
The driver of a car that ploughed into pedestrians at the Liverpool FC title parade may have been attempting to follow an ambulance through the crowds before hitting and injuring dozens of people, the ECHO understands.
Police arrested a 53-year-old man following the harrowing scenes in Water Street on Monday evening where a car was driven into crowds that had gathered in the city centre to watch Liverpool’s Premier League victory parade.
It has been confirmed that at least 47 people were injured as the vehicle hit the crowds, with 27 – including two children – taken for hospital treatment. Today Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram said that four people remained ‘very, very ill’ in hospital.
Merseyside Police are carrying out extensive enquiries to establish the circumstances leading up to the incident, with questions being asked about how the car was able to access a key city centre road that had been closed to traffic because of the parade.
The ECHO understands that one line of enquiry is that the car was following or attempting to follow an ambulance that was moving through the crowd. This may have have led to some of the gathered crowd attempting to stop the vehicle before it then lurched forward and ploughed into the crowds, injuring many people.
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.”
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 Air BnB 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.”
