Car ploughs into fans at Liverpool parade, injuring dozens; police say incident not seen as terrorism

LIVERPOOL: A car ploughed into large crowds of Liverpool fans during a parade celebrating their side's Premier League title on Monday (May 26), hospitalising 27 people, with two seriously injured, but police said they did not believe the incident was terrorism-related.

Police said they had arrested a "53-year-old white British man from the Liverpool area", whom they believed to be the driver of the vehicle which struck a large group of supporters who were celebrating in the city in northwest England.

Twenty people were treated at the scene. Ambulance officials said of the 27 taken to hospital, four were children. One child and one adult were in a serious condition.

Four people trapped under the vehicle had to be released by firefighters.

Videos on social media showed people thrown into the air as the car rammed into spectators.

When the car stopped, angry fans converged on it and began smashing the windows as police officers intervened to prevent them from reaching the driver.

"We believe this to be an isolated incident, and we are not currently looking for anyone else in relation to it. The incident is not being treated as terrorism," temporary Deputy Chief Constable Jenny Sims told reporters.

With most people off work for the Spring Bank Holiday, hundreds of thousands of fans gathered to watch the Liverpool team and its staff travel through the city centre on an open-top bus with the Premier League trophy.

The incident "cast a very dark shadow over what had been a joyous day", Liverpool city council leader Liam Robinson said on social media.

In the aftermath, a Reuters photographer saw emergency services carrying victims on stretchers to ambulances and debris scattered on the road.

Police were unusually quick to give a