The explosion of a taxi in front of a hospital in Liverpool (northern England) was described Monday as a “terrorist act” by the police, while the driver was hailed as a “hero” who avoided a “disaster” .
Three men – aged 29, 26 and 21 – were arrested as early as Sunday in Liverpool’s Kensington area under the Terrorism Act, and at a press conference on Monday, police said the arrest of fourth 20-year-old man.
The police indicated to consider the facts as a “terrorist act” while specifying that the motivations of this act “remain to be determined”.
Investigators believe the explosive device was “made” by the passenger who took him to the vehicle, where he died in the explosion. He had taken the taxi from Rutland Avenue in Liverpool, asking the driver to take him to the women’s hospital, a 10-minute drive away.
It is in front of this hospital that the explosion occurred Sunday morning when the United Kingdom commemorated the victims of the wars, on the occasion of “Remembrance Sunday”.
It occurred just before 11:00 a.m. (local and GMT), when the nation was silently praying, and a few hundred yards from Liverpool Cathedral where hundreds of soldiers, veterans and members of the public were gathered. for a tribute.
“We cannot establish a link at this stage but it is an avenue of inquiry that we are exploring,” Russ Jackson, in charge of the region’s counterterrorism police, told a press conference on Monday of these commemorations.
“Incredible bravery”
Injured in the explosion, the taxi driver has been called a “hero” by politicians and tabloids who said he had helped prevent deaths.
“This is an ongoing investigation so I cannot comment on the details or say exactly what type of incident this is.” […] but it appears that the taxi driver in question behaved with incredible presence of mind and bravery, ”Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday during a visit to a London medical center.
According to The Daily Mail, the driver noticed that his passenger looked “suspicious” and locked him in the taxi, before escaping.
“The taxi driver, in his heroic efforts, managed to avert what could have been an absolutely horrific disaster at the hospital,” Liverpool Mayor Joanne Anderson told the BBC on Monday, confirming he had “Locked the doors” of the vehicle.
“It reminds us that the threat of terrorism has not gone away,” Conservative Party Chairman Oliver Dowden told SkyNews on Monday morning.
The counterterrorism police are in charge of the investigation with, according to the BBC, the support of the intelligence service MI5.
“Terrible incident”
The local police explained that they were alerted around 11 a.m. and immediately intervened.
A “large cordon” police remained in place Monday morning on Rutland Avenue in Liverpool and “a small number of homes have been evacuated as a precaution” as part of the ongoing investigation, Greater Manchester police said.
Boris Johnson had conveyed his thoughts on Sunday evening “to all those affected by the terrible incident in Liverpool”.
Images posted on local media websites showed large gray smoke billowing from the scene of the explosion and a charred vehicle.
Phil Garrigan, the Merseyside fire chief, said the vehicle fire was “fully developed” when emergency vehicles arrived.
The police urged the population to “remain calm but vigilant”.
With Pauline Froissart in London