A taxi exploded outside a women's hospital in Liverpool, northern England, on Sunday. Four individuals were arrested and the facts were qualified as a "terrorist incident".
- WHAT HAPPENED ?
The explosion occurred on Sunday morning, around 11 a.m., outside the Women's Hospital, and a few hundred yards from Liverpool Cathedral where hundreds of soldiers, veterans and citizens were gathered for a tribute to the occasion of "Remembrance Sunday", day of commemoration of the victims of the war. No link has been established between this celebration and the explosion of the taxi.
The incident caused the death of one person and injured another. Initial evidence is that the taxi passenger "made" an explosive device that he brought in the car and died in the flames.
The taxi driver was injured as he tried to flee. According to the British press and tabloids, the driver felt his passenger looked "suspicious" and locked the doors of the car before escaping, preventing the man from getting out. This information was initially not confirmed by the police, but was confirmed on Monday by Joanne Anderson, Mayor of Liverpool, and by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
After the explosion, the taxi driver was taken to hospital, which he has since left in good health, law enforcement said.
- WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE ASSAILLANT?
Counterterrorism police were immediately tasked with the investigation. At this point, no information has been released regarding the identity of the deceased assailant. Investigators said Monday evening that they had identified the man, but did not wish to reveal his identity for the moment.
They have also already made four arrests. Four men, aged 20 to 29, "were arrested in the Kensington area of Liverpool and arrested under the Terrorism Act." Police also searched two addresses in the city. At one of them, avenue Rutland, "important elements have been found and additional research will be necessary today and potentially in the coming days," police said.
These first elements allowed the police to qualify this act as a "terrorist incident" on Monday evening. The motivations of the suspected terrorist and those arrested remain unknown for the time being, and the facts have not been claimed.
- LEVEL OF TERRORIST THREAT RAISED
Faced with this new attack, British Home Secretary Priti Patel announced that the UK had raised its level of the terrorist threat to "serious". He recalled that the explosion of this car in Liverpool was the second act considered terrorist after the murder of MP David Amess a month ago. This threat level means that the risk of attack is considered “highly probable”.
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