Liverpool car ramming: Eyewitness left ‘heartbroken’ by what he saw at victory parade

At least 47 people were injured when a grey minivan struck pedestrians in Liverpool city centre, according to reports.

Social media footage appeared to show the vehicle hitting at least one person before veering into a larger crowd, pushing bodies along the street before coming to a stop.

Eyewitness John Hughes, chief executive of Liverpool Nightlife CIC told GB News: "I was in the Cunard Building as a guest of everyone who works in the night-time economy and the city centre, and it was just an amazing day.

"Up to that point it was an amazing weekend. We'd had 100,000 in Sefton Park for the concerts and just seeing the scenes.

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"I've worked in the city centre for 40 years and I've never seen it that busy. It was amazing. Then we just came out and you could just sense that something really bad had happened, because everyone was running.

"You could see the police and the next minute the helicopter came out the sky. I realised it was an air ambulance. And then it just went mental, and all the rumour mill started, which I was disgusted at.

"Some of the things on my phone, some of the rumour mills that were going round and everything, and just, our heart goes out to everyone involved. A big thank you to the police, the fire service, the emergency service, and obviously the NHS. Now we're going to be doing everything we, they can, to make sure everyone is okay."

He added: "It's unbelievable, the feeling in the city. Now it's just so sombre and that, and going back to seeing everyone, I was bursting with pride. This is my city, and just to see everyone having such a brilliant time and just coming through the city centre, it was just fantastic. Just to be in this position now, that we're in now, is so heart breaking."

When asked how is the city going to respond to this, he said: "Well, like we always do, we always stick together as a community."

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the scenes as "appalling" in a statement following the incident, adding: "My thoughts are with all those injured or affected."

Merseyside Police confirmed they were contacted just after 6pm on Monday "following reports that a car had been in collision with several pedestrians on Water Street".

The vehicle was quickly stopped at the scene, and a male suspect was taken into custody. Police later clarified that a 53-year-old British man had been arrested in connection with the incident.

Assistant Chief Constable Jenny Sims told a press conference: "We believe this to be an isolated incident, and we are not currently looking for anyone else in relation to it."

She added: "The incident is not being treated as terrorism."

Twenty-seven people, including four children, were taken to hospital, with two sustaining serious injuries, emergency services said. Another 20 people were treated at the scene.