Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, the metro mayor of Liverpool Steve Rotheram said he was stood about 100 metres away from the incident as it unfolded.
He spoke of the mis- and disinformation that spread online in the immediate aftermath of the event. He said he thought Merseyside police did well to “dampen things down” by releasing details of the detained driver – a 53-year-old white British man – so quickly. Police are not treating the incident as terrorism related.
Rotheram said there are “still four people who are very, very ill in hospital”.
“We are hoping of course that they pull through,” he said.
Asked whether that reflects an increase on the previous number of seriously injured – given by authorities last night as one adult and one child – he says: “No, not directly, but of course we’re in liaison with the police and with the ambulance services.
“Last night they had two gold command meetings – one was really late in the evening, so this morning I’ll get some updates.”
Helen Godwin, the new Mayor of the West of England, has said the thoughts of people across the region were with Liverpool.
She said: “The thoughts of people across the West of England will be with all those affected by the awful events yesterday evening in Liverpool, after a day of joy became one of heartbreak.
“We are all praying for a swift recovery for everyone who was injured, and sending our love and support.
“Liverpool will always remain close to my heart. It’s where I went to university, the first place outside the West that I called home. Our kids are reds. As a region, the West of England stands with Liverpool and with Merseyside.”
Speaking from the scene, Steve Rotheram, the mayor of the Liverpool city region, spoke of the “true humanity” of the city and said he hoped that those injured would recover quickly.
Rotheram said: ‘Liverpool’s a city where there’s such warmth, and we’re a welcoming city … The solidarity of the people will shine through’.
Some other Liverpool players have reacted on social media to last night’s events.
Defender Joe Gomez posted on instagram: “My thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected right now.” He signed the post off “YNWA” – the initials of the club’s you’ll never walk alone motto.
Midfielder Curtis Jones, who is from Liverpool, re-posted the club’s statement on the incident with a heart and prayer hands emoji.
Club legend Steven Gerrard posted: “Shocked, sickened and saddened at the incident we all witnessed in our city last night. My thoughts and prayers go out to all the people involved and their families.”
Liverpool FC captain Virgil van Dijk said he was “praying for a speedy recovery” for all those injured in the crash following the club’s title parade.
The Dutch defender posted on Instagram: “My thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected. Praying for a speedy recovery for everyone who suffered injuries. We are all with you.”
A planned strike by Unite workers at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital was called off following yesterday’s incident in Liverpool city centre.
Over 50 lab workers were set to walk out today over concerns that staff burnout and understaffing was putting patients at risk, but the workers made the decision to suspend their industrial action following the incident last night.
Unite regional officer Derek Jones said: “Following yesterday’s tragic events in Liverpool, members took the immediate decision to suspend action so they could provide full support to the major incident which has been declared by the hospital trust.
“The dispute is not over and more action is planned – but we are urging Liverpool Clinical Laboratories to come back to the table and commit to addressing the problems with staffing and overwork.”
Everton, the other club Premier League team in Merseyside have released a statement: “Everyone at Everton Football Club is deeply saddened by the horrific incident on Water Street yesterday during Liverpool Football Club’s Premier League victory celebrations.
“As a city we stand together,” the statement ended.
League Two club Tranmere Rovers, based in Birkenhead, Merseyside said on X last night: “All of our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by the incident in Liverpool city centre this evening.”
Figures from across the sporting world and beyond reacted to the incident and sent their thoughts to those affected.
Former Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler posted on X: “Heartbreaking news … absolutely sickened with what’s happened here in Liverpool.”
Former Liverpool manager Sir Kenny Dalglish said he was “shocked, horrified and deeply saddened” by the incident at the end of the parade.
NBA star LeBron James, who owns a small stake in Liverpool FC, said on X: “My deepest thoughts and prayers goes out to everyone affected that attended @LFC Premier League trophy parade today! Such a senseless act!”
Oasis frontman and Manchester City fan Liam Gallagher said on the social media platform: “Thoughts and prayers with all our brothers and sisters of LIVERPOOL”
Police in white forensic suits arrived on Water Street and began taking photographs of the area.
They could be seen going into a white tent at the scene.
If you have been affected by the incident in Liverpool and want to share your experience with our journalists, here is how to get in touch.
Liverpool metro mayor Steve Rotheram backed the force’s unusual decision to release the information about the Liverpool suspect so quickly.
PA reports he told reporters: “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 it up who might be responsible for it.
“That’s why I think the police acted… to dampen that sort of speculation, because it was designed to inflame. It was designed to divide.”
Liverpool FC chief executive Billy Hogan has thanked the club’s supporters who “helped each other where they could” following last night’s incident.
He added: “We continue to work with the emergency services and the local authorities to support their ongoing investigation and once again we would ask if anyone has any further information about the incident, please contact Merseyside Police.”
In a post on Instagram, former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp has expressed his shock and devastation at last night’s incident.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who are injured and affected”, he said in a post on Instagram.
The statement concluded with the words “You’ll never walk alone,” a reference to the club’s motto. He had previously posted pictures of the parade, including one of himself watching on.
Klopp won the Champions League and Premier League with Liverpool before stepping down last year.
Keir Starmer was asked about the police decision to share details of the man who was arrested after a car ploughed into a crowd celebrating Liverpool’s Premier League win. Details, including the age and ethnicity of the man, were released quickly after the incident.
Asked if he would like to see similar details released in the future in similar cases, the prime minister said: “That is a matter for the police and the investigation is ongoing so I think we need to leave that to them.
“I think today is a day really for thinking about all those impacted by this and being absolutely clear that we stand with them.”
The prime minister said the whole country “stands with Liverpool” after almost 50 were injured when a car ploughed into crowds at a bus parade celebrating Liverpool FC’s Premier League title win.
Keir Starmer said the nation’s thoughts are with the victims and the wider community.
Starmer said: “Scenes of joy turned to utter horror and devastation, and my thoughts and the thoughts of the whole country are with all of those that are affected, those injured, which of course includes children, their families, their friends, the whole community, Liverpool fans everywhere.
“Liverpool stands together and the whole country stands with Liverpool. I’d like to thank the first responders who did a fantastic job last night and continue to do so. There’s now an ongoing investigation. I’m being kept updated, talking frequently to the mayor Steve Rotheram. But as I say, my thoughts and the thoughts of the whole country will be with everybody in Liverpool today.”
Liverpool FC were due to host a title-winning party for the club’s staff today – the people behind the scenes whose work goes largely unrecognised outside of Anfield – but that was cancelled as soon as the seriousness of the incident became clear last night. The players and head coach Arne Slot were informed of the incident as soon as their victory parade ended. Most, if not all, will now be away on holiday before some of them report for international duty next week.
Liverpool City metro mayor Steve Rotheram said the question in the forefront of everybody’s minds is why did a car end up in Water Street, Liverpool, on Monday night, PA reports.
He told BBC Radio 5 Live: “The question, let’s be honest, that everybody’s sort of, it’s in the forefront of their minds is why did a car end up in Water Street and that’s for the police now to conclude their investigations, we’ll find out the reason why it was there.”
Asked for an update on the casualties, Rotheram said: “Yesterday I was with the police and obviously they’ve reported on a number of serious injuries, one, at least, critical, we’ll have to wait until the update later today from that, but signs were fairly positive, and I think the fortunate thing is the ambulance service themselves were on scene, I mean there was an ambulance yards away and there were lots of police and as the event is happening the police are running towards this event.”
Leader of Liverpool City Council, Liam Robinson, urged the public not to speculate online about yesterday’s incident.
“Any information that you do have, don’t share it on social media, share it directly with Merseyside Police,” he tells BBC Breakfast.
He said he would not speculate about how the car involved came to access a closed road.
Liverpool FC’s history has been touched by disaster twice before.
In 1989, 97 Liverpool fans died in a crush at a game in the Hillsborough stadium in Sheffield. More than 760 people were also injured in the deadliest disaster in British sporting history.
In 1985, 39 mainly Italian fans were killed when a wall collapsed amidst disturbances between Liverpool and Juventus fans at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels.
The X account of the Hillsborough Survivors Support Alliance shared many, many tweets from Liverpool residents and people from the surrounding area offering beds, lifts and support to people affected by last night’s incident.
A former Metropolitan Police chief superintendent said it was “unprecedented” that the police “very quickly” gave the ethnicity of the suspect in the Liverpool incident, PA reports.
Dal Babu told BBC Radio 5 Live: “What we do have, which is unprecedented, is the police very quickly giving the ethnicity and the race of the person who was driving the vehicle and I think that was, and it was Merseyside Police who didn’t give that information with the Southport horrific murders of those three girls, and the rumours were that it was an asylum seeker who arrived on a boat and it was a Muslim extremist and that wasn’t the case.
“So I think what the police have done very very quickly, and I’ve never known a case like this before where they’ve given the ethnicity and the race of the individual who was involved in it, so I think that was to dampen down some of the speculation from the far-right that sort of continues on X, even as we speak, that this was a Muslim extremist and there’s a conspiracy theory.
He was asked if it was a result of Merseyside Police having learned the lessons from what happened after the Southport attacks last year, when three young girls were stabbed to death, and others seriously wounded. Following the attack, Merseyside Police were criticised for not releasing information to the public, allowing speculation to mount over the identity and motive of the attacker.
“Yeah, absolutely, I think you’re spot on,” Babu said. “It’s remarkably striking because police will not release that kind of information because they’ll be worried about prejudicing any future trial, but I think they have to balance that against the potential of public disorder and we had massive public disorder after the far-right extremists had spread these rumours.”
He added: “The difficulty we have is in the olden days, when I was policing, you would have a conversation with trusty journalists, print journalists, radio journalists, broadcasting journalists, you’d have a conversation and say look can you please hold fire on sharing this information and people would listen, we don’t have that with social media, it’s like the wild west and anything goes and so puts the police in a very, very difficult position.”
