‘Driver looked emotional and agitated’

There were already signs that something had gone wrong in Liverpool city centre before the car ploughed into the crowd.

Tens of thousands had gathered to see Liverpool FC parade the Premier League trophy and were, as one witness put it, “packed like sardines” on Water Street.

But a few hundred yards away, a large Ford family car was trying to make its way through the dense crowds of jubilant supporters on a road which was supposed to be closed.

By the time someone had started to film the car, a few people in the crowd were trying to stop the driver from getting any further.

At least one man threw a punch at the car, another kicked it with enough force to dislodge its rear windscreen wiper.

The car jolted back twice, nearly taking people off their feet both times, before veering around a stationary car and picking up speed as it headed onto Water Street.

Further down, someone managed to open the advancing car’s door but it kept moving forward.

Seconds later, one fan who witnessed the carnage described seeing people “scattered like bowling pins”.

BBC News has spoken to several people who were on Water Street on Monday to understand how, as one fan put it, “paradise turned to hell”.

On Tuesday, police confirmed Water Street was meant to be closed for the parade.

Investigators believe the driver followed an ambulance, which was on its way to attend to a suspected heart attack, to get through the cordon.

One of those who saw the incident close-up was Matthew O’Carroll, 28, from Cheshire.

He said: “People managed to get out of the way as he was beeping as he went through – but as he went past, people were obviously very angry and so started running after the car.

“The back window of the car was already smashed.

“I thought that once it went past us, it was just someone that was trying to get away from something and would slow down when he got to more people.”

Dan Ogunshakin, a BBC Sport reporter, had travelled to Liverpool for the day with a friend to see his team lift the trophy.

As he was walking up Water Street, he noticed the car that, unbeknown to him, others had tried to stop further up the road.

“We wondered what it was doing there,” Dan said. “Suddenly people surrounded the car.

“They were banging it, shaking it, rocking it. It was joyous and then suddenly everything changed.”

This time the number of people trying to intervene and block the car from going any further was much larger than earlier.

Footage from the scene shows a frantic mass swarming the car and police officers moving in.

Dan described a “large bang” as the car hit an ambulance parked behind it.

“Then it just [moved] forward [and] accelerated very quickly into the crowd,” he added.

One witness who spoke to BBC Radio 5 Live saw how the man at the wheel reacted to the chaos unfolding around his vehicle.

Harry Rashid said: “I could see the driver of the vehicle… my wife saw him clearly.

“He looked emotional, agitated, his hands were moving about.

“He was trying to close the door of the car because people were trying to pull the door open.

“When he closed the door people were banging on the vehicle, the wind screens, the side windows, the back window.

“Within the next five seconds he managed to put his car into gear again and drive straight through the people in front of him.”

Nobody knows what was going through the driver’s mind, or why he was attempting to take a large car down the packed road in the first place.

Police say a 53-year-old white British man from the West Derby area of Liverpool is in custody and being questioned on suspicion of attempted murder, dangerous driving and driving while unfit through drugs.

Most of those around the car managed to scatter as it lurched forward, picking up speed – but not everyone got out of the way.

One man was seen being thrown onto the bonnet and bouncing off the windscreen, before falling to the ground.

Then the car veered right towards a tightly packed part of the crowd clustered on a pavement outside a Hooters bar, creating a sickening domino effect as people careered into one another.

Others were pulled along with the car or hurled to the floor.

One of those in the car’s path was BBC reporter Matt Cole, who had taken his family along to the celebrations.

He said an ambulance had just made its way through the “dense” crowd when “there were screams ahead of us”.

“[The car] just wasn’t stopping,” he recounted. “I managed to grab my daughter who was with me and jump out of the way.

“It missed myself and my family by literally inches.”

Among the 50 people hurt were an adult and child who sustained serious injuries. No one lost their lives.

Jack Trotter, who had travelled to Liverpool from Northern Ireland to celebrate his club’s triumph, was one of those injured.

He described being in “absolute agony” but said he was “extremely lucky” as he managed to move partly out the way as the car came towards him.

Paul, who had visited from North Yorkshire, said: “We just heard this screaming, and we saw coming to car coming to us.

“It was panic, my daughters were just screaming and just wanted to go home. It was so horrific to watch.”

Another of those hurt was a paramedic, who was stationed inside the crowd on a bicycle.

Steve, from Chester, told BBC Radio Merseyside he saw the paramedic being struck, and recounted how he, his wife and friend ran down a side street to find safety.

“We didn’t know what was happening, you just want to find somewhere as safe as you can,” he added.

Within seconds of the car ploughing through the crowd and coming to a halt, a large crowd had surrounded it again, including several police officers flooding down the road.

Footage from the scene shows the crowd desperately lashing at the car in an effort to prevent the driver doing further harm.

“They were extremely brave,” Steve said.

“If it hadn’t been for their action the vehicle would have carried on going down the street, I’m convinced.”