Brief summary
A day of celebration in Liverpool turned to horror after a car ploughed into a crowd of people during Liverpool FC’s Premier League victory parade. Hundreds of thousands of fans were celebrating on the streets when the collision happened, with a 53-year-old white British man arrested. The Prime Minister and other political leaders described the scenes as appalling, while Liverpool FC expressed their support for the emergency services dealing with the incident. The police have launched an extensive investigation to determine the circumstances leading to the collision.
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00:00:00
A day of celebration in Liverpool turned to horror this evening after a car ploughed into a crowd of people during Liverpool FC’s Premier League victory parade. Hundreds of thousands of fans were celebrating on the streets of the city as the team took part in a 10-mile open-top bus parade. The collision happened just after 6 o’clock tonight on Water Street, shortly after the players’ bus had passed through. Merseyside police said tonight they’ve arrested a 53-year-old white British man. The Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, has described the scenes as appalling. Liverpool Football Club said, ‘Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by this serious incident.’ Our correspondent Judith Moritz is in Liverpool tonight. Judith, yes, a little over four hours ago, the street where I’m standing was absolutely packed.
00:00:54
The mood was jubilant. People had come out in their thousands to celebrate their team’s league victory. The mood was jubilant. And then suddenly, out of nowhere, things changed. Now, you can see behind me, I think, the tents there, which marks the spot where this happened. Absolute chaos in the aftermath and tonight the emergency services have launched a huge investigation, they’re still trying to get to the bottom of the circumstances behind this collision at Liverpool Football Club; have said as you just said that they are offering their support to the emergency services. The Prime Minister has described the incident as appalling, but there have been on all fronts, people saying there have been messages not to speculate about the background to what has happened and the emergency services we expect to give an update later on tonight with more of the background.
00:01:49
The ambulance service, meanwhile, have described this and declared it as a major incident. Crowds of Liverpool fans had come out to celebrate this afternoon, but the carnival turned into carnage. A car was making its way along a closed road. It looks as though people were trying to stop it. A warning that what we’re about to show you is distressing. With no idea of what’s about to happen, people are still celebrating when suddenly, out of nowhere, the car careers towards them and ploughs into the crowd, which is rows deep. People are obviously badly hurt. There’s panic and chaos. This footage from the roadside shows the immediate aftermath. And then we suddenly saw the car reverse and then accelerate and move through the crowd. And honestly, people scattered like bowling pins.
00:02:50
Honestly, the change in the mood from what has been a glorious, glorious day to just hell on earth. It was terrifying. It genuinely was terrifying. And then suddenly I heard it accelerate, heard it rev its engine and it kind of accelerated a bit, kind of forwards, so kind of further down the road. And then suddenly it started accelerating in the opposite direction and it rammed into the actual ambulance itself. So it was quite a loud kind of bang. Moments after the crash, this video shows people surrounding the car. The mood of the crowd has turned to anger. Some try to get into the vehicle. The back window is smashed. The police struggle to hold people back. A 53-year-old white British man from the Liverpool area has been arrested.
00:03:39
Police did not say whether he was the driver and they’re asking people not to speculate. It’s not yet known why the crash happened or how seriously people have been hurt. The emergency services are expected to provide an update later, and the police say they’ve launched an extensive investigation into the circumstances leading up to the collision. Judith Moritz, BBC News, Liverpool. And our UK editor Ed Thomas is in the city this evening. Ed, your assessment of the mood there, what people are saying to you at the end of this day? Yeah, it’s quite a flat atmosphere here tonight. It is unbelievable to think that tens of thousands of Liverpool supporters were celebrating a moment of absolute joy, which ended in seconds on Water Street here. This is the place where the Prime Minister has described appalling scenes.
00:04:40
We can still see the police here tonight. The police tape is here as well. And in the distance, is the trauma centre which was put there to treat the casualties who had collided with the car. It’s now the job of the police to try and find out what happened here and they will be listening to eyewitnesses to try and find out and piece together what happened. One person who was there, and we’re very grateful for him speaking to us, is Matt Cole. Matt is a BBC reporter and was here with his family. Thank you for talking to us, Matt. First of all, how are you doing and how are your family? We’re okay, uh, shocked. I think the adrenaline waves keep coming over us because we went from a moment of celebration down here to moans of joy.
00:05:23
My son had just seen this footballing hero Mo Salah lifting the trophy in front of him; he said it was the best of his life turned into perhaps not this would you be able to talk us through the best you can? The order of events here when you first became aware that this van was on the street, well look 10 minutes after the bus had come past us. Here we and a huge number, thousands of people were walking up here now as we got just to where about you can see the blue tents maybe a little beyond the crowd began to pause a bit; an ambulance was blocking our way it couldn’t get through the crowd.
00:05:54
We went round it and as we came round it suddenly beeping and screaming and this blue car just came straight towards us, I grabbed my daughter, I jumped, my wife behind me did the same. The car then came past us, we had people banging on it, men chasing it, the back window was smashed in and thankfully that ambulance that had stopped because it couldn’t get through the crowds I think is what caused it to stop and prevent it coming further down here where thousands and thousands of people were still celebrating. It’s very early I know but do you have any understanding? how this vehicle got to be on Water Street? It came out of the blue, because at that time, this area was still closed to traffic. There were thousands of people here.
00:06:40
It made no sense. And the moment you saw it, trying to register what you were seeing literally made no sense. It was beeping, and as I sort of cast my mind back, I remember that. But I most vividly just remember the men shouting and banging and chasing and trying to stop. And at that point, we had no idea. We grabbed the children, we ran up, we ran left. I looked back afterwards, I could see a handful of people sitting, but I couldn’t see any other casualties. But because we had no idea what this was and my children were my priority, I grabbed them and we took off. OK, thank you so much for talking to us, Matt. We’re very grateful. Take care of yourself.
00:07:16
One thing we don’t know tonight is the condition of the people who have been injured here. We understand a major incident was declared and a lot of the casualties were sent to hospitals across Merseyside. But what we do know is that Merseyside have been very quick to release information here. A 53-year-old white British man has been detained and he’s been questioned by police. Ed, thank you. Ed Thomas there in the city tonight. Well, let’s take a few minutes to talk about the investigation, what we know so far. Our UK correspondent Daniel Sanford has been looking into all of that. And there is the video that we’ve touched on several times-can be learnt from that video. What does it tell us, Daniel?
00:07:57
Well, obviously, it’s very early stages and there’s a number of videos, lots and lots of people there with their phones today, and it’s hard to be sure what order those videos should be viewed in. But what this doesn’t look like is somebody who’s driven immediately at high speed into a large crowd of Liverpool supporters. That doesn’t seem to be how the incident starts. There seems to be a vehicle looks like a gray Ford Galaxy making its way quite tenderly at first through the crowd, and I understand that at that point some of the police roadblocks have started to be lifted. Then, there seems to be a growing sense of anger between the driver and some people in the crowd. It’s not quite clear what triggers that.
00:08:44
But then, there is this really horrendous moment when the driver just puts his foot down and drives at very, very high speed into a large number of people. And you’re seeing people bouncing off the car as he goes. And undoubtedly, people would have been very seriously injured at that moment. But it doesn’t look like your classic example of a car immediately plowing in in a sort of terrorist style attack. That’s not what it looks like in the videos unless you look just at the last bits of the video. OK, so what, big question, but what will the police investigation be focusing on right now? Well, Merseyside Police are leading the investigation, but they are getting support from the Northwest Counterterrorism Policing Unit.
00:09:29
And that’s because while it’s unclear what the motivation was for driving at high speed into the crowd, there is that possibility at the back. Is there some kind of political motivation or something like that? Because of the resources of Merseyside Police and North West Counter Terrorism Policing, there is an ability to do a really, really, really forensic investigation. They’ll have the ability to look at all the cameras in the city, that they will be able to pour through all the CCTV cameras, build up what happened before the incident. They’ll be able to draw in all the videos that people send in from their phones to the police investigation, try and build up a complete picture. They’ll obviously be able to do very, very quick background checks on the man who’s been detained, who the police were very quick to describe as 53, white British.
00:10:16
And obviously that’s a lesson learned from Southport when it was not answered who the suspect was for several days and then there were the problems with the rioting that arose out of that. So it will be a very, very detailed investigation because of the huge resources that will be available because of the involvement of counter-terrorism policing. All right, Daniel. Thanks so much, Daniel Sanford. Well, let’s talk as well to our sports correspondent, Katie Gornall, because, Katie, you’ve been in Liverpool all year. day to follow the parade to follow what was meant to be a day of absolute joy and celebration and and sport not just liverpool fc sport has been really shaken by how today has ended It has indeed, Sir James, yes. The mood has been absolutely transformed here in the city.
00:11:06
It’s hard to believe almost that several hours ago I was standing down there among the fans on the Strands and witnessing scenes that were absolutely joyous. Fans were dancing, singing, celebrating, letting off flares, watching their heroes go by on the open-top bus that passed along down here on the Strands and celebrating Liverpool’s 20th anniversary, the league title win; and then minutes after that overtop bus had passed and the crowd started to dissipate it became apparent that something very serious of course had happened on Water Street which is just over there behind me. Now tonight’s Liverpool Football Club has released a statement which says we’re in direct contact with Merseyside Police. They said our thoughts and prayers are with those who have been affected by this serious incident.
00:11:54
We will continue to offer our full support to the emergency services and local authorities, who are dealing with this. And we also understand that, in light of tonight’s events, the club postponed staff celebrations, which were due to take place tomorrow. But of course, this is such a passionate football city. Liverpool’s local rivals, Everton, have also posted on social media tonight saying, our thoughts are with all those who have been affected by this serious incident in our city. A number of other clubs around the country have posted similar messages. And the Premier League have also said tonight in a statement, ‘They’re shocked and appalled by events in Liverpool this evening.’ Our heartfelt thoughts go out to all those injured and affected. We’ve been in contact with Liverpool Football Club and have offered our full support.
00:12:39
So there, Jane, just a sense really of how the football community is coming together in the wake of this heartbreaking end to what was meant to be a day of celebration here. Katie, thank you. Katie Gornall there in Liverpool. Let’s talk to our political correspondent, Damian Grammaticus, as well, because, Damian, there has been a lot of political reaction tonight. There has, Jane. As you’ve been told already, the Prime Minister has described what’s happened as appalling. Now, we’ve been told that within the first hour, he was being kept updated about what was happening in Liverpool. A short time after that, we had words from Keir Starmer, a statement that he put out in which he said his thoughts were with all of those injured and affected.
00:13:24
He wanted to thank the police and emergency services for their swift and ongoing response to what he called this shocking incident and said that he was being kept updated. And that was followed by many others. So the Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner, she described it as horrific. The Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, she talked about shocking and horrendous scenes. And then all the other sort of parties and parts of Great Britain too. So we had the leader of the Conservatives, Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Ed Davey, Reform UK, Nigel Farage, all saying their thoughts were with those affected. But I think important to say that the words of the Prime Minister, in which he said that what really matters now, he said, is that we give the police the space they need to investigate. Thank you, Damien. Grammaticus in Downing Street.
FQAs
Q1: What occurred during Liverpool FC’s victory parade?
A: A gray Ford Galaxy drove into crowds on Water Street shortly after the team’s open-top bus passed, turning celebrations into chaos. The vehicle initially moved slowly through the closed road before accelerating into the crowd, injuring multiple people. Eyewitnesses described scenes of panic, with the car reversing and hitting an ambulance. A 53-year-old local man was arrested, though police have not confirmed his role or motives.
Q2: How are authorities investigating the incident?
A:
- Multi-agency response: Merseyside Police are leading with support from the Counter-Terrorism Policing Unit, examining CCTV, eyewitness videos, and the driver’s background.
- Focus areas: Determining how the car entered the closed road, assessing whether the collision was intentional, and ruling out terrorism (though not yet confirmed).
- Public appeals: Urging witnesses to share footage and avoiding speculation, particularly after lessons from the Southport riots where delayed information caused unrest.
Q3: What reactions emerged from the community and leaders?
A:
- Political: PM Keir Starmer called it “appalling,” while Home Secretary Yvette Cooper termed it “horrendous.” Cross-party leaders (including Conservatives’ Kemi Badenoch and Lib Dems’ Ed Davey) expressed solidarity.
- Football community: Liverpool FC postponed staff celebrations and offered support to emergency services. Rivals like Everton and the Premier League issued statements of shock.
- Public mood: Described as “flat” post-incident, contrasting the day’s earlier jubilation. Eyewitnesses like BBC reporter Matt Cole emphasized the rapid shift from joy to terror, prioritizing child safety during the chaos.
Key detail: The ambulance blocked the car’s path, potentially preventing worse casualties in denser crowds downstream.
