LONDON (AP) — A driver was arrested Monday after plowing into a crowd of Liverpool soccer fans who had been celebrating the city soccer team’s Premier League championship, police said.
Merseyside Police said they were investigating reports that multiple pedestrians had been hit.
A video on social media appeared to show a gray minivan strike at least one pedestrian and then veer into a larger crowd of people, carving a path through the group and pushing bodies along the street like a plow before coming to a stop.
Harry Rashid, who was at the parade with his wife and two young daughters, said the car began ramming people about 10 feet (3 meters) away from him.
“It was extremely fast,” Rashid said. “Initially, we just heard the pop, pop, pop of people just being knocked off the bonnet of a car.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was being updated on the situation and thanked police for their quick response.
“The scenes in Liverpool are appalling — my thoughts are with all those injured or affected,” Starmer said.
The incident followed a large celebration in the city center, where tens of thousands of dancing, scarf-and-flag-waving fans braved wet weather to line the streets and watch Liverpool’s players display the Premier League trophy atop two buses bearing the words “Ours Again.”
Rashid said after the car struck it’s initial victims, it came to a halt and the crowd charged the vehicle and began smashing windows.
“But then he put his foot down again and just plowed through the rest of them, he just kept going,” Rashid said. “It was horrible. And you could hear the bumps as he was going over the people.”
Rashid said it looked deliberate and he was in shock and disbelief.
“My daughter started screaming and there were people on the ground,” he said. “They were just innocent people, just fans going to enjoy the parade.”
