Liverpool parade crash: ‘The overwhelming feeling after was sadness’
Muslim Liverpool FC fans speak of their shock and heartbreak after driver ploughs into victory parade, injuring nearly 50 people
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Muslim Liverpool fans who attended the club’s Premier League victory parade on Monday have described their shock and sadness after a car ploughed through a crowd of pedestrians, injuring 50 people.
Merseyside police have arrested a 53-year-old man on suspicion of attempted murder, dangerous driving and driving while unfit through drugs. Police said they are not treating the incident, which occurred just after 6pm, as terror-related.
“Sadly, at just after 6 o’clock this evening, as the parade was drawing to a close, we received reports that a car had been in collision with a number of pedestrians on Water Street in Liverpool city centre,” a statement from the police published on Monday said.
“The car stopped at the scene and a 53-year-old white British man from the Liverpool area was arrested. We believe him to be the driver of the vehicle,” the statement added.
Akram Al-Karim, a Liverpool FC fan from Milton Keynes, 28, said he and his brothers had a near miss, as they were minutes away from the attack when it happened.
“At first we didn’t know what had happened, we just saw a lot of police who had started cornering off roads. Then a friend of mine called to ask if we were OK. There was a sense of panic and worry for our fellow supporters,” he said.
Al-Karim said he was shocked that an incident like this had occurred in Liverpool, which he described as an extremely welcoming city.
“Us red men, we stick together. One thing I’ll say about scousers, they welcome you like family. As long as you’re a Liverpool fan it doesn’t matter what religion you follow, if you’re white or Black. Especially as Muslims, I’ve always felt they are so supportive of us,” Al-Karim said.
Hasan, 31, from London, who did not wish to share his surname, said he was on Water Street at the time of the attack, but luckily he was not at the scene of the incident.
“We saw four police officers sprint through the crowd, the first of them telling us to get out of the way,” Hasan said. Similarly to Al-Karim, Hasan and his friend did not know what had happened until a family member called to check on them.
“The overwhelming feeling after was sadness. This day was so long in the coming for Liverpool fans. We last won the title during Covid-19, and the time before that was 35 years ago. Now it feels tainted.”
Police said 20 people had been treated at the scene and a further 27 people were taken to hospital by ambulance.
As news of the attack spread on social media, far-right accounts began speculating that the perpetrator was of an immigrant or Muslim background.
One post, shared by an account impersonating the British Muslim Network, labelled the incident a “probable Islamist Terror Attack” by a “white revert to Islam”.
The post was condemned by co-founder of BMN Akeela Ahmed, who said: “My heart goes out to the dozens of people and children injured after a car ploughed into crowds at Liverpool FC’s Premier League title parade.
“A statement is circulating that has supposedly come from us — it is fake — and has been shared by a fake account.”
Adam Kelwick, an imam from Liverpool, said the atmosphere in the city was “electric” before the incident occurred. “That’s the saddest thing. It was one of the happiest days for the city of Liverpool, and it ended in something like this,” he said.
Kelwick, who had left the parade before the car struck pedestrians, said he was horrified to see the misinformation on social media.
“There were rumours of people shouting Allahu Akbar, or people saying ‘this is what happens when you let immigrants come in’. It was just really, really nasty stuff.”
Kelwick made headlines after photographs captured him embracing far-right protestors outside Liverpool’s Abdullah Quilliam mosque in Liverpool during the aftermath of the Southport killings last summer.
“What happened at the parade brought back memories of Southport and what happened straight after the stabbings. It was people pretending to care about the victims, but really they wanted this to be an attack done in the name of Islam, so they could bash Islam again.”
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