Dozens injured after car plows into crowd celebrating Liverpool soccer triumph. Police arrest man, rule out terrorism

By Eve Brennan, Lauren Said-Moorhouse and Helen Regan, CNN

London (CNN) — Dozens of people, including four children, were injured when a driver plowed a car into a parade celebrating Liverpool Football Club’s latest Premier League win on Monday evening.

A 53-year-old white British man, believed to be the driver, was arrested at the scene in Liverpool in northwest England, according to Merseyside Police. Describing the collision as an “isolated incident,” police said they were not looking for any other suspects and were not treating the incident as terrorism.

Hundreds of thousands of jubilant soccer fans had lined the streets in the heart of Liverpool on Monday, waving flags and flares of red smoke, to watch an open-top bus victory parade to celebrate the iconic club’s 20th top-flight league title.

As the parade was winding down, those scenes of joy turned to chaos. Video from social media appears to show a gray minivan plowing into red-clad supporters. The angry crowd can then be seen surrounding and rocking the stopped vehicle.

A total of 27 people were taken to hospital, the head of service at North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust David Kitchin told a news conference. Two of those hospitalized – one child and one adult – had “sustained serious injuries,” he said.

Four people – three adults and one child – had to be removed from underneath the vehicle, according to Chief Fire Officer of Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service Nick Searle. A further 20 people were treated at the scene for minor injuries, he added.

“This gray people carrier just pulled up from the right and just rammed into all the people at the side of us … It was extremely fast. Initially, we just heard the pop, pop, pop of people just being knocked off the bonnet of a car,” one fan, Harry Rashid, told the UK’s PA Media news agency.

Rashid, who attended the parade with his wife and two young daughters, said crowds of people ran over and started to smash the car’s windows. “It was horrible. And you could hear the bumps as he was going over the people … I saw people lying on the ground, people unconscious. It was horrendous. So horrendous,” he said.

Footage shared by Reuters news agency showed emergency services tending to people, some being carried into ambulances on stretchers. Photos from the scene also showed authorities cordoning off the heavily littered roads. Police set up a tent where the crash occurred.

“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,” Peter Jones, who had traveled to Liverpool to attend the parade, told the Associated Press. “He then drove into people, police and medics ran past us, and people were being treated on the side of the road.”

The local police force said they were contacted just after 6 p.m. local time (1 p.m. ET) “following reports a car had been in collision with a number of pedestrians” in the city center.

Merseyside Police said it had been working with the organizers of the parade and a “robust traffic management” plan was put in place before the incident unfolded.

“Extensive enquiries are ongoing to establish the circumstances leading up to the collision and it is vital that people do not speculate or spread misinformation on social media,” Merseyside Police’s Assistant Chief Constable Jenny Sims said in a statement.

The parade on Monday – which coincided with a separate May public holiday in the UK – involved players from the Liverpool squad being driven around the city center in an open-top bus and gleeful fans had joined the festivities along the 10-mile (16 kilometers) route.

“The scenes in Liverpool are appalling – my thoughts are with all those injured or affected,” UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said, thanking police and emergency services “for their swift and ongoing response to this shocking incident.”

Liverpool city council leader Liam Robinson said in a post on X that the incident “has cast a very dark shadow over what had been a joyous day.” Speaking at a news conference on Monday night, Robinson asked the public “not to share the horrifying footage of the incident” on social media platforms.

Liverpool FC said it is in contact with Merseyside Police regarding the incident. “Our thoughts and prayers are with those who have been affected by this serious incident. We will continue to offer our full support to the emergency services and local authorities who are dealing with this incident,” it said on X.

Everton Football Club, the local rival team to Liverpool FC, and the Premier League also offered their condolences on social media.

In a subsequent post on social media, NWAS said the scene in Liverpool’s city center “has now been cleared.”

A local hospital group has made a plea for people to refrain from calling its switchboard. “We know that many people are concerned about loved ones. Next of kin will be contacted, so please help us to manage the incident as best we can by refraining from calling our switchboard,” NHS University Hospitals of Liverpool Group said on X.

This story has been updated with the latest developments.

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