Probe into whether Liverpool driver tailgated ambulance before parade horror

Police tents surrounded by debris at the scene in Water Street near the Liver Building in Liverpool city centre after a 53-year-old white British man was arrested when a car ploughed into a crowd of people during Liverpool FC's Premier League victory parade. Picture: PA

Detectives are probing whether the car which ploughed into a crowd during Liverpool’s Premier League victory parade tailgated an ambulance before running down pedestrians.

The city’s metro mayor Steve Rotheram said the vehicle should not have been on the street and the “big question” was how the incident happened.

Mr Rotheram said four people are still “very, very ill in hospital” after the vehicle struck dozens of pedestrians on Water Street in the city centre on Monday.

It is understood that Merseyside Police are investigating whether the driver attempted to follow an ambulance that was moving through the crowd.

A 53-year-old man was arrested after the “horror” incident and four children were among around 50 who were injured — including one child who was seriously hurt.

The force said the suspect was the driver of the car was white, British and from the Liverpool area, adding that it was not being treated as terrorism.

Speaking to reporters at the scene on Tuesday, Mr Rotheram said questions about how the car was able to enter the road were “legitimate”.

He said: “Water Street was not a route where vehicles were supposed to be using it, it was blocked off.

“At this end of it, which is the direction that it was coming in, towards The Strand, there were literally hundreds of thousands of people here, so no vehicle would have got through anyway.

“The questions, I suppose, are legitimate, but we have to give the police the time to conclude their investigations, which is what they’re doing.”

Emergency services helped injured fans after the incident (Owen Humphreys/PA)

The damage vehicles can do when driven into crowds was laid bare in a series of attacks including in 2016 when a lorry ploughed into pedestrians in Nice, France, and the following year in London when vehicles were driven into crowds on Westminster Bridge and London Bridge.

Both permanent and temporary barriers and bollards are used commonly to protect the public, as seen in the massive security operation for the Queen’s funeral in 2022 which was the largest ever deployment of such measures.

Footage of the incident circulating online appeared to show people in the crowd following the Liverpool Football Club celebrations attempting to get close to the driver of the car, with one managing to open the driver’s car door.

Videos then appeared to show the driver close the car door before suddenly speeding up and veering into pedestrians on both sides of the crowded street.

The clips posted on social media then showed people from the crowds attempt to chase the driver – with some kicking the vehicle and smashing the back window.

(PA Graphics)

Officers quickly surrounded the car as witnesses attempted to stop the driver, who was eventually detained by police.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live on Tuesday, Mr Rotheram said he was hopeful that those seriously injured “pull through very, very quickly”.

He told the broadcaster: “The actual incident in Water Street will live with those people for all the wrong reasons and that’s where we have to really focus our minds.

“There are still four people who are very, very ill in hospital and we are hoping of course that they pull through very, very quickly.”

Nick Searle, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service chief fire officer, said four people who were trapped under the car, including a child, were rescued by firefighters.

At a press conference late on Monday evening, Dave Kitchin from North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) said 27 people were taken to hospital and 20 people were treated at the scene, with four children among the injured.

The scene in Water Street near the Liver Building in Liverpool city centre on Tuesday morning (Peter Byrne/PA)

He said two of those taken to hospital, including one of the children, suffered serious injuries.

Mr Kitchin said some patients had also taken themselves to local hospitals.

On Tuesday morning a police cordon remained in place at the scene, with a large police van parked in front of a blue tent on the road and officers stationed along the street.

Empty bottles and cans littered the road, and a Liverpool flag was attached to the top of traffic lights.

The Strand was reopened to traffic as usual.