Four people were “very, very sick in the hospital” after a car in a crowd of Liverpool fans was plowed during a Premier League title parade, the mayor of the city said on Tuesday, adding that he hoped they would “continue”.
The British police believe that the incident was isolated on Monday in a packed city center in Liverpool and no terrorism, but did not say why or how a man was able to drive to crowds on the street on Monday evening.
Videos that were placed online showed a gray human carrier who drove through a busy street that was closed for cars, who were flying to the air and drag at least four under the wheels.
When the car stopped, angry fans came together and started breaking the windows while police officers fought to prevent them from reaching the driver.
The police said on Monday late that 20 people were treated on the spot and 27 were taken to the hospital, including children.
Liverpool City Metro mayor Steve Rotheram told the BBC that there were “four more people who are whole, very sick in the hospital”.
“Of course we hope that they will get through”.
With most people at work for the holidays in the spring, officials estimate that about a million people descended on the 10-Mile Parader route to see the Liverpool team and the staff travel through the city center with the Premier League trophy.
Liverpool won the competition for the last time during the COVID Pandemie when parties were not allowed due to lockdowns.
The police said the car hit the spectators when the event ended. In the aftermath, a Reuters photographer saw emergency services that bore victims on stretchers and in their arms to nearby ambulances.
The police were unusually quick to give a description of the man they arrested and said 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 said that this statement was needed to cool speculation on social media that the episode was an Islamist attack.
“That was one of my first worries that we had to get the story out quickly,” Mayor Rotheram told the BBC.
“If there is a vacuum, we know that there are some elements that will try to set up the situation and create that speculation and provide wrong information.”
Police officers patrol about the crime sceneists / Phil Noble
The same police supervised the response to the murder of three young girls in the nearby city of Southport last year, an incident that caused days of riots, initially fed by speculation online about the identity of the attacker.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer thanked the emergency services for their quick response and said, “Everyone, especially children, should be able to celebrate their heroes without this horror.”