7 remain hospitalized days after Liverpool F.C. parade crash that injured at least 79 

Video above: KTLA 5 breaking news coverage of the parade crash on Monday.

A total of seven people are still in the hospital after a man plowed his minivan into a crowd of people celebrating at a championship parade for Liverpool F.C. on Monday. 

The Merseyside Police confirmed the information in a public update issued at 2 p.m. local time on Wednesday. 

“As part of the ongoing investigation, we have also been able to identify more people who were injured, with 79 in total who we are now speaking with,” authorities said. 

Per a social media post from Merseyside Police, each of the seven people who remain in the hospital are in stable condition.

The 53-year-old man, who has not been named, hails from Liverpool’s West Derby neighborhood, law enforcement officials say. He has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, dangerous driving offenses and driving while unfit through drugs.  

He remains in police custody. A motive for the crash has not been established, but police say the driver acted alone and that the incident is not believed to be terrorism.

“[On Wednesday], the investigation team [has] been granted further time to continue questioning him in police custody, which will remain in place until [Thursday],” Merseyside Police said. 

In Wednesday’s update, Merseyside Police Detective Superintendent Rachel Wilson stated that the number of people in the hospital is reducing in the days following the incident that took place on Water Street in downtown Liverpool.  

“We continue to support those still receiving treatment and as part of our ongoing inquiries, we are identifying more people who were injured,” Wilson said. “I want to reassure the public of Merseyside that detectives are making significant progress as we seek to establish the full circumstances that led to what happened.” 

Authorities are also reviewing “extensive” CCTV footage to track the movements of the Ford Galaxy hatchback that was driven by the 53-year-old suspect.  

The parade was being held to celebrate Liverpool F.C.’s Premier League title. An estimated one million people were said to have come out to support and watch the 10-mile procession.

Local media reports, citing a BBC reporter who was at the parade with his family, state that the open-top bus carrying the team had recently passed through the area when the car plowed through the crowd.  

This is not the first tragedy involving Liverpool F.C.; in 1985, the Heysel Stadium disaster occurred when Liverpool fans surged into an adjacent stand filled mostly with fans of Italian club Juventus before the start of the European Cup final.

A total of 39 people died after being crushed against a wall that eventually collapsed, and a further 600 people were injured in the incident that occurred at the stadium in Brussels, Belgium. The disaster was blamed on hooliganism (14 Liverpool fans were convicted of manslaughter), mistakes by officials (one police captain was convicted of manslaughter) and structural issues with the stadium.

Four years after the Heysel Stadium tragedy, the Hillsborough Stadium disaster occurred in Middlesbrough, England when local police mismanaged crowd control by letting an influx of supporters into two standing-only sections.

The incident claimed the lives of 94 people on the day; a 95th died days later, an 18-year-old — who was left in a persistent vegetative state from the incident — died in 1993, and the 97th victim died in 2021, 32 years after suffering irreversible brain damage.

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