LONDON (AP) — A British man was arrested after he drove his minivan Monday into a parade of Liverpool soccer fans celebrating their team’s victory in the Premier League Championship in an incident that injured nearly four dozen people.
Authorities said the 53-year-old man is believed to be the only one involved in the incident and it was not being investigated as an act of terrorism.
Tens of thousands of fans had joined in the hours-long procession under heavy security along a 10-mile (16 kilometer) route.
Here’s what we know so far about the crash:
What happened?
Authorities say a man plowed his car into the crowd of soccer fans in the northwestern English city. Emergency vehicles and an air ambulance rushed to the scene to attend to the injured.
Paradegoer Peter Jones said he heard the car smash into the crowd and saw at least a half dozen people down in the road.
Another paradegoer, Harry Rashid, said the car stopped after initially hitting some of the victims. Rashid said people then charged toward the vehicle, smashing its windows, and the driver kept going.
Merseyside Police said they were investigating what led to the incident.
Who was affected?
Nearly four dozen people were injured, including four children.
Twenty-seven people were taken to the hospital, with two suffering serious injuries, and another 20 were treated for minor injuries at the scene, according to authorities.
Four people were stuck beneath the vehicle and had to be freed by firefighters.
Why were fans celebrating?
Liverpool fans were celebrating the city team’s Premier League soccer championship in a record-tying 20th top-flight title.
The team’s last league title was in 2020, but fans couldn’t publicly celebrate in the same way due to pandemic-related restrictions.
Monday’s parade wound through the streets despite wet weather. Fans danced and waved scarves while the team’s players traveled on top of two buses.
Liverpool clinched the title after defeating Tottenham last month. Rival Manchester United also has the achievement of winning 20 English league titles.
