The London (AP) -53-year-old British man plowed a minivan in a crowd of football fans in Liverpool who celebrated the City League Championship on Monday, hurting more than 45 people when the cries of joy became Terror’s screams.
It is believed that the arrested driver is the only participating and the crash was not investigated as an act of terrorism, police said.
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The ambulances took 27 people to the hospital, including two with serious injuries, and the other 20 people were treated at the scene for minor injuries, said Dave Kitchin of the Northwest ambulance service. At least four children were injured.
Four of the victims, including a child, were trapped under the van and firefighters had to pick up the vehicle to release them. A bicycle paramedic was also struck, but not injured.
“He threw a very dark shadow on what was a joyful day for the city,” said City Council leader Liam Robinson at a short night.
As the parade was wrapped, a gray minivan turned to the route of the parade and fought into the sea of fans wrapped in their red scarves, Liverpool T -shirts and other memorials. Video on social media showed that the van struck a person, throwing it into the air before getting into a greater crowd, where he plowed a path through the group and pushed the bodies down the street before he went down.
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“It was extremely fast,” said Harry Rashid, who was with his wife and two young daughters as the minivan passed them. “Initially, we just heard pop, pop, pop by people just demolished from the car lid.”
Rashid said the crowd had charged the stopped vehicle and began to break the windows.
“But then he put his foot again and just plowed through the others, he just went on,” Rashid said. “It was awful. And you heard the bumps as he walked over people.”
Rashid said he looked deliberate.
“My daughter started screaming and there were people on the ground,” he said. “They were just innocent people, just fans would enjoy the parade.”
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Liverpool fans came out in the hundreds of thousands to celebrate the team, winning the Premier League this season for a record 20th high-flight title.
Peter Jones, who traveled from Man’s Island, said he heard the car crashed into the crowd and saw at least half a dozen people.
“We heard a frantic sound signal forward, a car flew past me and my half, people chased it and tried to stop it, the windows crashed from behind,” Jones said. “He then got into people, police and medics.
Police said they were conducting extensive investigations to determine what led to the collision and asked people not to speculate or share “disturbing content online”.
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Police identify suspects as white, in a possible decision to prevent misinformation from flooding social media.
Last summer, a teenager in the nearby city of Soutport killed three girls in a piercing rage in a dance class and wounds 10 others, including two adults. The wrong name of the suspect was distributed on social media and people said he was a asylum seeker. In fact, he was born in the UK riots, distributed in England and Northern Ireland, aimed at Muslims and refugees in asylum seekers and lasted about a week.
Prime Minister Kayer Starmer called the scenes horrifying and welcomed the courage of the rescuers.
“Everyone, especially children, should be able to celebrate their characters without this horror,” Starmer said. “The city has a long and proud history to gather in difficult times. Liverpool are standing together and the whole country stands with Liverpool.”
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The legacy of Liverpool football club was overshadowed 36 years ago, when 97 of his fans were killed in crushing the stadium during a match against Sheffield at Hilsborough Stadium. The tragedy was complicated by cover in the cause and the errors of the police.
The supporters were refused the chance to celebrate the last title in the club’s league in 2020 due to restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic.
This time, Flag fans stopped in wet weather to arrange the streets and climb traffic lights to look at Liverpool players, who were on two buses carrying the words “Ours again”.
The procession of the hours of the heavy police presence-a 10-kilometer (16-kilometer) route and through a sea of red smoke and rain. Fireworks exploded from the royal liver building in the heart of the city.
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The team in a brief statement said his thoughts and prayers were affected. The Premier League issued a similar statement, a pronounced shock from the “horrific events in Liverpool.”
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Associated Press writer Jill Lowles in London have contributed to this report.