Police believe the car which ploughed into a crowd at Liverpool Football Club’s victory parade, injuring 65, was following an ambulance.
The driver has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, dangerous driving and drug driving.
Merseyside Police Assistant Chief Constable Jenny Sims said on Tuesday the force believes the car was able to follow an ambulance crew attending to someone suffering a heart attack after a road block was temporarily lifted.
Detective Chief Superintendent Karen Jaundrill said there were a total of 65 confirmed casualties following the incident on Water Street in the city centre on Monday.
More than 50 people were treated in different hospitals and 11 people remained there on Tuesday in a stable condition.
Ms Sims defended the policing operation during the parade, saying that the force planned for “all contingencies” – including road closures and an armed police presence.
It followed the city’s metro mayor Steve Rotheram’s comments that the vehicle should not have been on the street and that questions about how the car was able to enter the road were “legitimate”.
Mr Rotheram said the mood in the city had moved from shock to reflection and relief nobody had been killed.
Providing an update on the investigation, Ms Jaundrill said the suspect, from the West Derby area of Liverpool, remains in custody and is being interviewed by officers.
The senior officer said the force received help from neighbouring forces “due to the number of victims”.
Following the events during Liverpool’s Premier League title parade, King Charles said he was “deeply shocked and saddened” to hear of the events.
“It is truly devastating to see that what should have been a joyous celebration for many could end in such distressing circumstances,” he said.
“At this heartbreaking time for the people of Liverpool, I know that the strength of community spirit for which your city is renowned will be a comfort and support to those in need.
“Our prayers and deepest sympathy are with all those who have been affected, and my special gratitude goes out to the first responders, emergency services personnel and other individuals who rushed to the aid of the injured.”
The Prince and Princess of Wales said they were “deeply saddened” by the scenes. The prince is patron of the Football Association.
Medical staff who treated those injured told the Princess Royal they were “very, very fortunate” there were not more major injuries.
Princess Anne visited the Royal Liverpool University Hospital on Tuesday where she met nurses, consultants and paramedics, as well as representatives from Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service and the football club, after 47 people were injured on Water Street on Monday.
Mr Rotheram said police now need time to conclude their investigations, but praised them for releasing details of the suspect to avoid a repeat of the riots that occurred last summer in the wake of the attack on children at a dance class in Southport. Information about the suspect was withheld at the time due to concerns over prejudicing potential trial, which allowed false rumours that the attacker was a Muslim asylum seeker to spread.
Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, were killed in the July 29 attack by Axel Rudakubana, 18, who received a minimum jail sentence of 52 years.
Mr Rotheram said rumours were spread online “really quickly” after Monday’s events.
He said: “If you have a look at my timeline there was somebody very quickly saying ‘why are you lying? There’s been another incident in another part of the city’, which obviously wasn’t true.
“And then they were trying to stir up who might be responsible for it, and that’s why I think the police acted, not just appropriately, but very, very quickly, to dampen that sort of speculation because it was designed to inflame. It was designed to divide. The message of hate doesn’t go down well here.”
Asked what the police decision to release details of the suspect’s race said about the state of the country, he said: “It says that social media is a cesspit.”
Downing Street has said that police are “operationally independent” when it comes to information they choose to release.
An imam criticised social media posts blaming Muslims for the incident.
Adam Kelwick, who leads the Abdullah Quilliam Mosque in Liverpool, was at the parade with friends and family when a car drove into the crowd.
Mr Kelwick, who defused tension in Liverpool during the Southport riots last year, warned that online fake news was spreading about the perpetrator’s identity.
Mr Kelwick urged his followers to call out the fake news online, by messaging people spreading it to correct their mistake.
MATCH INFO
Championship play-offs, second legs:
Aston Villa 0
Middlesbrough 0
(Aston Villa advance 1-0 on aggregate)
Fulham 2
Sessegnon (47'), Odoi (66')
Derby County 0
(Fulham advance 2-1 on aggregate)
Final
Saturday, May 26, Wembley. Kick off 8pm (UAE)
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Fanney Khan
Producer: T-Series, Anil Kapoor Productions, ROMP, Prerna Arora
Director: Atul Manjrekar
Cast: Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai, Rajkummar Rao, Pihu Sand
Rating: 2/5
Key figures in the life of the fort
Sheikh Dhiyab bin Isa (ruled 1761-1793) Built Qasr Al Hosn as a watchtower to guard over the only freshwater well on Abu Dhabi island.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Dhiyab (ruled 1793-1816) Expanded the tower into a small fort and transferred his ruling place of residence from Liwa Oasis to the fort on the island.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Shakhbut (ruled 1818-1833) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further as Abu Dhabi grew from a small village of palm huts to a town of more than 5,000 inhabitants.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Shakhbut (ruled 1833-1845) Repaired and fortified the fort.
Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon (ruled 1845-1855) Turned Qasr Al Hosn into a strong two-storied structure.
Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa (ruled 1855-1909) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further to reflect the emirate's increasing prominence.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan (ruled 1928-1966) Renovated and enlarged Qasr Al Hosn, adding a decorative arch and two new villas.
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (ruled 1966-2004) Moved the royal residence to Al Manhal palace and kept his diwan at Qasr Al Hosn.
Sources: Jayanti Maitra, www.adach.ae
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
2017%20RESULTS%3A%20FRENCH%20VOTERS%20IN%20UK
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFirst%20round%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EEmmanuel%20Macron%3A%2051.1%25%3Cbr%3EFrancois%20Fillon%3A%2024.2%25%3Cbr%3EJean-Luc%20Melenchon%3A%2011.8%25%3Cbr%3EBenoit%20Hamon%3A%207.0%25%3Cbr%3EMarine%20Le%20Pen%3A%202.9%25%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESecond%20round%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EEmmanuel%20Macron%3A%2095.1%25%3Cbr%3EMarine%20Le%20Pen%3A%204.9%25%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Dubai World Cup nominations
UAE: Thunder Snow/Saeed bin Suroor (trainer), North America/Satish Seemar, Drafted/Doug Watson, New Trails/Ahmad bin Harmash, Capezzano, Gronkowski, Axelrod, all trained by Salem bin Ghadayer
USA: Seeking The Soul/Dallas Stewart, Imperial Hunt/Luis Carvajal Jr, Audible/Todd Pletcher, Roy H/Peter Miller, Yoshida/William Mott, Promises Fulfilled/Dale Romans, Gunnevera/Antonio Sano, XY Jet/Jorge Navarro, Pavel/Doug O’Neill, Switzerland/Steve Asmussen.
Japan: Matera Sky/Hideyuki Mori, KT Brace/Haruki Sugiyama. Bahrain: Nine Below Zero/Fawzi Nass. Ireland: Tato Key/David Marnane. Hong Kong: Fight Hero/Me Tsui. South Korea: Dolkong/Simon Foster.
Rock in a Hard Place: Music and Mayhem in the Middle East
Orlando Crowcroft
Zed Books
Six large-scale objects on show
- Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
- The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
- A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
- A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
- Torrijos Palace dome
Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds
Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
SRI LANKA SQUAD
Upul Tharanga (captain), Dinesh Chandimal, Niroshan Dickwella
Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Mendis, Milinda Siriwardana
Chamara Kapugedara, Thisara Perera, Seekuge Prasanna
Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal, Dushmantha Chameera
Vishwa Fernando, Akila Dananjaya, Jeffrey Vandersay
The years Ramadan fell in May
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