By Hayley Dixon, Patrick Sawer, Will Bolton and Neil Johnston
When the crowds of jubilant football fans celebrating Liverpool’s Premier League soccer title made way for an ambulance racing to treat the victim of a heart attack, they had no idea what carnage would follow.
The opening of the cordon allowed a driver who was allegedly high on drugs to plough into pedestrians streaming away from the victory parade and back into the city centre.
It triggered scenes of “pure terror” as people bounced off the car’s windscreen and prams were propelled down the street. The chaos only ended when the car came to a stop with people under it.
The 300-metre rampage left 65 people injured, including four children, one of whom was seriously hurt.
The driver, a white British 53-year-old man, who has not yet been named, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, dangerous driving offences and driving while unfit through drugs.
Merseyside Police, which has taken the unusual decision to reveal the suspect’s ethnicity when he has not yet been charged, did not confirm what illegal substance he is believed to have taken.
Emergency services react in the aftermath of the incident during the Liverpool victory parade.Credit: Getty Images
The horror started when the driver got into a fracas with a group of Liverpool fans. The Ford Galaxy was seen on CCTV crawling through the crowds on Dale Street just before 6pm, along with a number of other cars.
But as it reached the William Hill bookmakers, footage shows passing fans apparently banging on the back window before the driver reversed into a passer-by.
As the car moved back and forth behind another vehicle, tensions rose quickly, with at least two onlookers punching and kicking the car as the driver beeped its horn.
The 53-year-old then appeared to reverse into a man who had just kicked off the back windscreen wiper.
Separate footage showed another fan wearing a Liverpool banner opening the car door as it stopped reversing, before the driver pulled it shut and drove forward into the throngs of people on Water Street.
Assistant Chief Constable Jenny Sims, from Merseyside Police, said that Water Street had been closed, but the driver “was able to follow an ambulance … after the roadblock was temporarily lifted”.
The ambulance appeared to have been parked, treating the casualty before the Ford Galaxy accelerated towards it, chased by onlookers throwing missiles.
Police did not say how long the cordon had been lifted for, or respond to questions on why Dale Street was still open to cars, given its proximity to the parade.
Mohamad Abbar, 31, a Liverpool fan who runs a vape shop on Dale Street, told The Telegraph: “It’s a joke that the police allowed the car to come in behind the ambulance. I don’t know why they did that.
‘You could hear thud, thud, thud as it ran people over. A paramedic on a bike was hit, too. There were screams … it was horrible.’
Paul O’Brien, Liverpool fan
“It wasn’t normal the way he was driving. He was zig-zagging all over the place, as if he was trying to hit people.
“The people started to push his car first, and then they opened the door. He didn’t have control. After that, he hit everyone. This was supposed to be closed to all cars. The problem, in my opinion, is from the police because they did not cover it.”
Videos from the other end of the crowd showed the driver going past the ambulance and into people who appeared to be trying to stop him.
‘Perfect day’ changed
As the car gathered speed, one man in football kit was thrown onto the bonnet before flying onto the ground as other onlookers scattered.
Daniel Eveson had travelled from his home in Telford to watch the parade with his partner and baby son when he saw fans rushing toward them and “people going flying and people screaming and just terror, pure terror”.
What had been the “perfect day” changed “under a sea of chaos” into “the worst day of my life”.
The car struck him in the chest before his partner went under its wheels and was dragged down the road.
The Liverpool FC parade had transformed the city centre into a sea of red.Credit: AP
“My partner went under the wheel. The car went over her leg and she got dragged down the road,” he told BBC Radio Shropshire.
“My little boy got chucked 10, 12, 15 feet down the road in his pram.”
He added: “I didn’t know where my boy was, if he was alive. Then I saw him alive – it was a lot to take on.
“I thought I’d lost everything. I don’t think I will ever be able to go to a parade or a celebration again.”
At one point, the Ford seemed to slow and veer into a throng of people, before gathering speed and eventually coming to a stop. Four people trapped under the car, including a child, were later freed by firefighters.
Fan Paul O’Brien, 39, who had travelled from Ireland for the parade with his 11-year-old son Danny and elderly parents, said that they were only saved by “hero Scousers” who pulled them to safety.
“If it wasn’t for those amazing Liverpool fans, I dread to think what would have happened,” he told The Mirror. “We may not have been here today. It had been such a fantastic day, full of joy and celebrations, so for it to end the way it did is so sad.
“We were walking up the hill, and the next thing we knew, we could hear the car, and then we were getting shoved out of the way of it. Then it carried on through the crowd, and you could hear thud, thud, thud as it ran people over. A paramedic on a bike was hit, too. There were screams … it was horrible.”
Emergency services attend the aftermath of the incident on Water Street.Credit: Getty Images
As the car came to a halt with people trapped beneath it, it was swarmed by fans.
Some appeared to be punching the driver, and at least two could be seen clambering into the passenger seat as people in the background screamed, “kill him, f---ing kill him”.
The back window of the vehicle had been smashed in, revealing items in the boot covered with a child’s blanket.
The same scene filmed from above showed dozens of uniformed police racing from both sides to get to the car and pushing the crowd back before they formed a protective circle around the man and bundled him into the police van.
More than 50 people were treated in different hospitals, and 11 people remained there on Tuesday in a stable condition
The tragedy darkened a day that should have been filled with celebrations for a club with a fan base that endured the Hillsborough disaster of 1989, gaining a reputation for coming together in the face of catastrophes.
Ian Byrne, Labour MP for Liverpool West Derby, said that the city would “do what it always does” and “come back stronger”. He said: “We’ll make sure that everybody’s okay, and then we’ll have to get up and dust ourselves off, reflect on what’s happened”.
The Telegraph, London
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