A former hospital worker has described the moment he saw the Liverpool terror suspect engulfed in flames as he tried to help in the aftermath of the bomb blast.
Liam Spencer worked at the WH Smith inside Liverpool Women's Hospital for around 18 months before he started a new job as an Asda delivery driver a few weeks ago.
The 21-year-old had stopped by his former workplace to see ex-colleagues on the day terror suspect Emad Al Swealmeen blew himself up as the taxi he was in pulled up at the hospital.
Speaking to the Liverpool Echo, Liam recalled how he ran towards the burning car to see if anyone was trapped inside the vehicle.
Liam, from Chidwell, made a brief visit to the hospital on Sunday, November 14, while his girlfriend waited in the car outside.
"I walked in and I was having a chat with my old colleague," Liam said. "But as I was getting ready to leave, I just heard this explosion - this loud bang.
"At first I thought it could have been a car crash but I thought that's awfully loud for a car crash."
Liam said he ran outside and saw the wreckage of the taxi.
"My first thought was just to grab my girlfriend and get her close to the building or inside so she's out of the way," he said.
"I never saw the driver get out so I ran to the driver's side of the car to see if he was still in there, or if anyone else was still in there."
Luckily, taxi driver David Perry had managed to escape from the vehicle just seconds before it burst into flames.
Liam described seeing him "in quite an awful state" standing with a security guard in the hospital's ambulance bay.
He said: "I went back to the car because I was asking if anyone else in the car, but I don't think they quite understood what I was saying because everyone was in shock.
"I ran back to check and that's when I saw the man in the car.
"He was on fire."
Liam said he was unable to comment if the passenger, terror suspect Al Swealmeen, was still alive at this point.
"I just seen him and the top half of his body through the rear door," he said.
"I think the door had been blown off, I can't really recall. But I remember it being slightly open.
"I didn't want to injure myself but I was looking at the best way to get him out of the car.
"I initially went close to see if I could grab him because the flames weren't as big at that point.
"As I got close the flames engulfed him and that's when I ran to go and get a fire extinguisher and then the security came out with one."
The taxi had stopped next to where Liam had parked his own car.
After seeing a car parked next to his start to catch on fire, Liam decided to try and move his own vehicle out of the way.
"I thought if my car goes up it will take the whole hospital so I thought I'll try and move it," he explained.
"My colleague shouted to me, 'What are you doing you f*****g idiot, get out of the car, it's not worth it!'
"I then realised, what am I doing in this car, my life's not worth it so I just got out."
Emergency services began to arrive at the scene and the blaze was eventually put out by firefighters, while police officers secured the car park and front entrance of the hospital.
Liam then sat in the foyer of the hospital waiting for police to take a statement with his girlfriend Stephanie Stitt, who he said was "quite shaken up".
The process took a couple of hours because officers were trying to contain the scene and ensure the hospital was still accessible to the public, he said.
Liam said after around an hour of waiting he also started to get upset over what he had witnessed.
"I just thought if that had been any worse I could have lost her - then it started to really upset me, how it could have been a lot different," he said.
Liam said they were both "shocked" after finding out the next day that the explosion was being treated as an act of terrorism.
"We still can't believe it's real," he said.
"My girlfriend is still suffering with her ears a lot because she was in the car.
"She's really drained from it all. I'm really drained from it myself - I'm struggling to sleep because of it.
"I keep thinking about the situation and then the adrenaline comes back to me. I just keep thinking about how it all happened so quickly."
It emerged today that counter-terrorism police believe Al Swealmeen, 32, had been planning the attack since April.
Assistant Chief Constable Russ Jackson said that failed asylum seeker had rented a property in Liverpool seven months ago and had started making “relevant purchases” for his homemade bomb “at least” since that time.
In an update issued earlier in the day, Mr Jackson said: “A complex picture is emerging over the purchases of the component parts of the device, we know that Al Swealmeen rented the property from April this year and we believe relevant purchases have been made at least since that time.
“We have now traced a next of kin for Al Swealmeen who has informed us that he was born in Iraq.”
Harrowing CCTV footage released today shows the taxi carrying Al Swealmeen on its way to Liverpool Women's Hospital.
The footage from outside the Green Mountain Food Store shows the Delta taxi making its way along Lodge Lane towards the Crown Street hospital site.
Police believe Al Swealmeen had manufactured a homemade bomb, which detonated inside the vehicle as the taxi pulled up outside the hospital.
Reports have suggested the device used by Al Swealmeen may have been a TATP, or 'Mother of Satan', device, similar to the one used by Salmen Abedi in the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing.
Today, searches have taken place at Boaler Street in Kensington after a police cordon in nearby Sutcliffe Street – where officers believe Al Swealmeen previously lived – was extended.
Investigations are also being carried out at a property in Rutland Avenue that had been rented by Al Swealmeen since April.
The incident has been declared a terrorist attack and the UK terror threat level has since been raised from substantial to severe, meaning an attack is “highly likely” rather than “likely”.
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