Scenes of jubilation turned to horror at Liverpool FC’s Premier League victory parade on Monday after a car ploughed into crowds of fans, injuring nearly 50 people.
Fans told The Independent they had been left “traumatised” and would never forget the distressing scenes of people lying injured in the street, which “destroyed what was supposed to be a very happy day”.
With the city having been under Covid lockdown the last time Liverpool won the title, up to one million fans had turned out to celebrate their team’s success on the Spring bank holiday, turning streets into a euphoric sea of flags, scarves and red flares.
The parade began at Allerton Maze in the city’s south before embarking on a 10-mile route lasting for three and a half hours, as the city lined up to watch the Liverpool team celebrate with the Premier League trophy on an open-top bus.
But just minutes after the team’s bus passed along Water Street, around a mile away from a finale on the Strand in the city centre, the celebratory atmosphere was swiftly and brutally shattered by unexpected horror and “desperate screams”.
With the red mist of Liverpool-coloured flares still hanging in the air, eyewitnesses described a car driving past a parked police van at a “decent” speed, with the driver beeping as he went through the crowd.
Witness Mike Maddra said he was forced to “[get] out of the way” as the car mounted the pavement and “was speeding up”. Mr Maddra said he saw two people being hit, adding: “It looked deliberate.”
Harry Rashid, a 48-year-old from Solihull who attended the parade with his wife and two young daughters, said: “Initially, we just heard the pop, pop, pop of people just being knocked off the bonnet of a car.”
Footage posted to social media video then showed angry fans converging on the vehicle as it briefly came to a stop, smashing windows before police intervened. One witness recalled people “ripping the register plate” from the vehicle.
Mr Rashid continued: “He stalled for a few seconds, probably about 10 seconds. Then the crowd that was a bit further back started rushing at him trying to smash his windows.
“But then he put his foot down again and just ploughed through the rest of them, he just kept going. It was horrible. And you could hear the bumps as he was going over the people.”
This version of events was echoed by Les Winsper, aged 55, who told The Guardian that, after bystanders began smashing the car’s windows, the driver appeared to have “panicked and put his foot down”, adding the car then hit someone “and that person has gone in the air... I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Mr Winsper said the first victim was thrown “about 20 feet” in the air by the collision, with the entire incident lasting around 20 or 30 seconds. Police said the car eventually stopped at the scene and the man was detained.
Paramedics said late on Monday that 27 people were taken to hospital, while a further 20 patients received treatment near the scene, with four children injured in total. Merseyside’s chief fire officer Nick Searle said four people who were trapped under the car, including a child, were rescued by firefighters, who arrived shortly after 6pm.
Liverpool mayor Steve Rotheram told the BBC on Tuesday morning that four people were still “very, very ill in hospital”.
In an unusual move, Merseyside Police – the force which dealt with the Southport attack and subsequent riots last July – revealed on Monday evening that they had arrested a 53-year-old man, who they described as a white British man from the local area. The incident was not thought to be terror-related, said Assistant Chief Constable Jenny Sims.
Natasha Rinaldi, 31, was watching the parade from her friend’s flat on Water Street, Liverpool, when she heard “desperate screams” from below.
“We rushed over to the window and saw injured people all over the floor,” she told The Independent. “We heard so many screams. I will never forget seeing a woman stuck under the car. It was so distressing. She was the last person to be rescued.”
Ms Rinaldi, a Liverpool FC fan for 12 years, said she had been left “traumatised” by the incident, adding: “It is unbelievable. I had been dreaming of this day for so long. I have followed the club for years and go to the games all the time.
“Everyone was so happy. But after it, everyone was broken. It destroyed what was supposed to be a very happy day.”
Questioning how the driver had been able to enter the busy street, Ms Rinaldi said: “The roads were blocked; it was hard even to get inside as someone walking. I just don’t understand how the car ended up there.”
Paul O’Brien, a fan from County Meath in Ireland, praised “heroic” Liverpool supporters for pushing him and his family out of the way of the car as it drove towards them through the crowd at “quite considerable speed”, hitting other fans and missing them only “by inches”.
Describing the scene as “just panic, screaming, commotion”, Mr O’Brien told The Independent that “the Liverpool people should be very proud of themselves”. He warned that the incident “could have been a lot more serious” without their efforts to stop the car and get others out of harm’s way.
BBC reporter Matt Cole – who said the car missed him and his family “by literally inches” – described how police officers exited a “squad” of armed police vehicles with rifles and medical packs and began running to the scene. A heavy emergency services presence remained in place for hours afterwards, with police cars, fire engines and ambulances remaining on the street.
One woman who also survived the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017 described being knocked to the floor by the car as it ploughed through the crowds.
Frankie, aged 24, told the Daily Mail: “The side of the car went into me and I fell to the floor. It’s all a blur. I’ve got cuts and bruises and I’ll be fine but there’s loads who have got more severe injuries.”
But referring to having now experienced two major ordeals at large public events, both within less than a decade, she said: “I don’t want to go out again.”
Patrick Milligan, 25, from Wigan told the newspaper: “We all had the best day of our lives watching the parade and then it was like a tsunami within about five minutes of the parade finishing. It was horrific. The car just swerved into the crowd at speed and everyone was screaming.
“We now know our families are okay but at the time, I had no idea if my brothers or sisters were under the car. My nan’s 84, so we were all fearing the worst.”
Dan Ogunshakin, another off-duty BBC reporter who witnessed the incident while attending the parade, told the broadcaster: “What had once been an atmosphere of celebration and joy and happiness suddenly turned into fear and terror and disbelief.”
Liverpool FC said the club was in “direct contact with” police and said its “thoughts and prayers are with those who have been affected by this serious incident”.
Well-wishes flowed from other Premier League clubs, including Everton, Manchester United and Manchester City.
Commending the “remarkable bravery” shown by police and other emergency services in responding to the incident, Sir Keir Starmer said: “The scenes in Liverpool are appalling – my thoughts are with all those injured or affected.”
The prime minister added: “Everyone, especially children, should be able to celebrate their heroes without this horror. The city has a long and proud history of coming together through difficult times.
“Liverpool stands together and the whole country stands with Liverpool.”
Additional reporting by PA
