A 53-year-old British man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after driving a vehicle into a crowd of Liverpool football fans celebrating the club’s Premier League championship, injuring 65 people, police confirmed on Tuesday.
The man is also being held on suspicion of dangerous driving and driving under the influence of drugs, according to Detective Chief Superintendent Karen Jaundrill.
The incident, which occurred late Monday afternoon, turned a festive occasion into chaos, with 50 people requiring hospital treatment. Eleven remained hospitalised on Tuesday, all in stable condition. Among the injured were four children, one of whom was trapped beneath the vehicle along with three adults.
Assistant Chief Constable Jenny Sims said the area had been cordoned off to traffic, but the suspect appeared to have bypassed the roadblock by tailing an ambulance that was responding to a separate medical emergency involving a suspected heart attack.
Merseyside Police stated that the incident is not being treated as terrorism and that no other suspects are being sought. The identity of the driver has not been released, in line with standard British police procedure not to name suspects before they are formally charged.
Investigators are still working to determine the motive behind the crash, which occurred on a narrow street crowded with supporters just after Liverpool Football Club’s players had completed their victory parade aboard an open-topped bus.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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