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LONDON: A 53-year-old British man plowed a minivan into a crowd of Liverpool soccer fans who were celebrating the city’s Premier League championship Monday, injuring more than 45 people as shouts of joy turned into shrieks of terror.
The driver arrested was believed to be the only one involved and the crash was not being investigated as an act of terrorism, police said.
Ambulances took 27 people to the hospital, including two with serious injuries, and another 20 people were treated at the scene for minor injuries, said Dave Kitchin of North West Ambulance Service. At least four children were injured.
Four of the victims, including a child, were trapped under the van and firefighters had to lift the vehicle to free them. A paramedic on a bicycle was also struck but was not injured.
“It has cast a very dark shadow over what had been a joyous day for the city,” City Council leader Liam Robinson said at a late night news conference.
As the parade was wrapping up, a gray minivan turned onto the parade route and plowed into the sea of fans wrapped in their red Liverpool scarves, jerseys and other memorabilia. A video on social media showed the van strike a man, tossing him in the air, before veering into a larger crowd, where it plowed a path through the group and pushed bodies along the street before coming to a stop.
“It was extremely fast,” said Harry Rashid, who was with his wife and two young daughters as the minivan passed by them. “Initially, we just heard the pop, pop, pop of people just being knocked off the bonnet of a car.”
Rashid said the crowd charged the halted vehicle and began smashing windows.
“But then he put his foot down again and just plowed through the rest of them, he just kept going,” Rashid said. “It was horrible. And you could hear the bumps as he was going over the people.”
Rashid said it looked deliberate.
“My daughter started screaming, and there were people on the ground,” he said. “They were just innocent people, just fans going to enjoy the parade.”
Liverpool fans had come out in the hundreds of thousands to celebrate the team winning the Premier League this season for a record-tying 20th top-flight title.
Peter Jones, who had traveled from Isle of Man, said he heard the car smash into the crowd and saw at least a half-dozen people down.
“We heard a frantic beeping ahead, a car flew past me and my mate, people were chasing it and trying to stop him, windows smashed at the back,” Jones said. “He then drove into people, police and medics ran past us, and people were being treated on the side of the road.”
Police said they were conducting extensive inquiries to establish what led to the collision and asked people not to speculate or share “distressing content online.”
Police identified the suspect as white, in a possible decision to prevent misinformation from flooding social media.
Last summer, a teen in the nearby town of Southport killed three girls in a stabbing rampage at a dance class and wounded 10 others, including two adults. An incorrect name of the suspect was spread on social media and people said he was an asylum seeker. In fact, he had been born in the UK Rioting spread across England and Northern Ireland, targeting Muslims and refugees in hotels of asylum seekers and lasted about a week.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the scenes appalling and hailed the bravery of rescuers.
“Everyone, especially children, should be able to celebrate their heroes without this horror,” Starmer said. “The city has a long and proud history of coming together through difficult times. Liverpool stands together and the whole country stands with Liverpool.”
Liverpool Football Club’s legacy is overshadowed by a disaster 36 years ago when 97 of its fans were killed in a stadium crush during a match against Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield. The tragedy was compounded by a coverup into the cause and missteps by police.
Supporters were denied the chance to publicly celebrate the club’s last league title in 2020 due to restrictions in place during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This time, flag-waving fans braved wet weather to line the streets and climb up traffic lights for a view of Liverpool’s players, who were atop two buses bearing the words “Ours Again.”
The hourslong procession — surrounded by a heavy police presence — crawled along a 10-mile (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.
The team in a short statement said its thoughts and prayers were with those affected. The Premier League issued a similar statement expressing shock at the “appalling events in Liverpool.”