LONDON — A deadly car explosion outside a busy women’s hospital in the northwestern city of Liverpool over the weekend was on Monday declared a terrorist incident by police.
“Although the motivation for this incident is yet to be understood, given all the circumstances it has been declared a terrorist incident and counterterrorism policing are continuing with the investigation,” Head of Counter Terrorism North West Russ Jackson said during a press conference.
A male passenger in the car was declared dead at the scene on Sunday, while the male driver received non-life-threatening injuries and remains in hospital in a stable condition, police said. Neither man has been identified by police.
Three men, aged 21, 26 and 28, were arrested in connection with the incident.
Earlier Monday, Liverpool Mayor Joanne Anderson praised as “heroic” the actions of a taxi driver during in a deadly car explosion outside a busy women’s hospital.
Anderson told the BBC that the driver, who has not been officially named, got out of the car and locked the doors before the blast hit on Sunday.
“The taxi driver in his heroic efforts has managed to divert what could have been an absolutely awful disaster at the hospital,” Anderson said of the incident.
Investigators have not commented on Anderson’s account.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson also praised the vehicle’s driver.
“It does look as though the taxi driver in question did behave with incredible presence of mind and bravery,” Johnson told journalists, adding that the details of what exactly happened are still being worked out.
Police were called to reports of a car explosion just before 11 a.m. local time (6 a.m. E.T.) outside Liverpool Women’s Hospital, just as a Remembrance Day Service, commemorating Britain’s war dead, was taking place at the nearby Liverpool Cathedral.
Police said the car involved was a taxi that pulled up at the hospital shortly before the explosion occurred.
Photos from the scene showed a vehicle in flames near the hospital’s main entrance. On Monday morning, police and forensic officers in white bodysuits were seen combing through the scene.
Police said a large cordon was set up in a central area of Liverpool where a small number of homes have been evacuated as a precaution as part of the investigation.
The Liverpool Women’s Hospital said in a statement late Sunday night it has restricted visiting access until further notice, but patients were no longer being diverted to other hospitals.
Britain’s national terrorism threat level, a scale designating the likelihood of a terrorist attack anywhere in the U.K., remains at “substantial,” which means an attack is likely.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
