David Perry, a Liverpool taxi driver, has been praised by his friends for his remarkable escape. A bomb carrying passenger caused the car to explode in his back.
The moment Perry’s car became a taxi was captured by CCTV A fireball was seen outside Liverpool Women’s Hospital’s reception, just before Remembrance Sunday’s two-minute silence at 11am yesterday.
A male passenger was killed in the explosion. He had requested to be taken to hospital about ten minutes away from Rutland Avenue. However, friends of the driver of the taxi believe that the target could have been within a quarter mile of Liverpool’s Service of Remembrance, which is where more than 1,200 veterans, military personnel and family members of those who were wounded had met.
It shows Perry in awe. Six seconds after the car burst, he was seen walking down the road. Reports claim that he had left the door locked to keep the suspect away from the hospital.
The bomb was believed to have been brought by a passenger into the taxi. Police are investigating whether it did not explode properly.
Boris Johnson, 45-year-old married father-of-2, today saluted Mr Perry. He said to reporters, “It looks as though the taxi driver involved did behave with extraordinary presence of mind, and bravery.”
His escape was described by friends as “a miracle”. One of his friends said that it was a miracle that he didn’t get more serious injuries. We’re all fortunate that the person who made this bomb wasn’t more stupid, let’s just be real.
A second addition was made: “David is the luckiest man and most heroic in Britain.”
Hero taxi driver David Perry (left, and right with his wife Rachel) apparently locked a suicide bomber in his car before a blast ripped through the vehicle outside a maternity hospital in Liverpool on Sunday
The bomb was brought in by a passenger, and police are investigating whether it did not explode properly.
Friends described to Perry how they noticed his passenger acting oddly.
One of them said, “David observed that the man was wearing some sort of light on his clothes and was playing with it. It didn’t look right to me.” The roads were too blocked for them to get there.
“The man changed his mind. He wanted to visit the city center. He said that he would pull into the Women’s Hospital as they passed by it. Just before 11, it was. David noticed that the man had a type of light attached to him clothing. He was playing with it and it wasn’t looking right.
“I’m not sure how he did it, but David jumped out of the car and locked the door with the guy at the back. It went off as soon as he got out of the car. God only knows what would have happened to this fellow if he had been admitted to the hospital. David is the luckyest man in Britain and the most heroic.
A friend shared that David had suffered from cuts and bruises and a perforated drum in his ears. He also needed stitches. While he may be sore tomorrow morning, he will soon feel better. He was just happy that there weren’t any new babies. David might have likely been afraid and had to think fast in order to get through it all. It’s amazing.’
A fundraiser was last night set up by some of Mr Perry’s Liverpool taxi driver colleagues to help him and his family recover from the ordeal. It had made £8,500 within hours.
Carl Bessant was a partner who just had a child at the hospital. He said, “She was giving the baby food when it happened.” The window was open when we heard the loud bang.
“We saw that the car was on fire, so someone ran out screaming. There was also someone in the car.” They closed the hospital, and no one was allowed in. However, they claimed that people had been using the back door.
According to police, the incident was declared terrorist but it is still unclear what motivated it.
Russ Jackson, Counter Terrorism North West Assistant Chief Constable said that it was not known what motivated the incident.
Our inquiries have shown that an explosive device improvised has been produced. It is our belief that the vehicle was constructed by the driver of the taxi.
It is not known why the woman took it to the Women’s Hospital, nor the cause of its sudden explosion.
We are aware of Remembrance events located close to the hospital. The ignition happened shortly before 11.
“We are not able to make any direct connection at this point, but this is something we’re interested in.
These are the incidents that resulted in yesterday’s blast outside Liverpool Women’s Hospital, and the subsequent arrests and raids.
Following the blast at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, just seconds before 11am Remembrance Sunday silence, three men were arrested in a terror investigation
Liverpool Women’s Hospital was the scene of the incident. A remembrance ceremony involving many military personnel, veterans, and civic dignitaries took place. It was taking place less than one mile from Anglican Cathedral.
The taxi driver appears to run from the car and point at it, cautioning people not to go in the face of what is happening inside.
“Although the motive for the incident remains a mystery, all circumstances have been considered and it has been designated a terrorist incident. Counter-terrorism police are currently investigating.
“Our investigations will now continue in order to determine how and why the device was made, as well as the motive for it. We also want to find out if there were any others involved.
He added: ‘The circumstances as we understand them to be are that yesterday, shortly before 11am, a local taxi driver picked up a fare in the Rutland Avenue area of Liverpool. A man had requested to be transported to Liverpool Women’s Hospital, which is about 10 minutes away.
The taxi rushed to drop off the patient at the hospital. An explosion was heard inside the car.
“This rapidly engulfed the cab in flames. Amazingly, the taxi driver managed escape the taxicab. After being treated for injuries, he was released from hospital.
Merseyside fire and rescue quickly responded to the call. It was soon discovered that the passenger had remained inside the car and was later pronounced dead.
Army Ordinance Disposal personnel have secured the area around the hospital.
“Following conversations with Ordinance Disposal officers, we can confirm that this is being considered as an ignition of an explosive device.
“Our investigations also indicated that the vehicle was taken into the car by the passenger.
The car had been fully ignited by 10.59am and Perry was taken away by one of the security guards from the hospital.
Rutland Avenue, just a half mile away from Liverpool’s hospital was also cordoned off with counter-terrorist officers and an ‘negotiation group’ on the spot.
Heavily armed police, one holding a breaching gun used to blast the hinges off doors, were seen at an address in Rutland Avenue near Liverpool’s Sefton Park on Sunday night
“We are confident that we have the passenger’s identity but cannot verify it.”
A fourth, 20-year-old man was also mentioned by him as having been taken into custody today. Three others, aged 21, 26 and 29 were arrested yesterday under S41 of the Terrorism Act yesterday.
MI5 and counterterrorism officers are working together to determine if the Cathedral was really the target or if it was an Islamist attack.
Police are investigating the possibility that detonators from a possible bomb went off but the main explosive charge was not.
David Videcette (an ex-counter-terror detective with Scotland Yard) tweeted that an explosion occurring in a small space could be catastrophic. It blows out windows and sends all of the windscreen up into the sky.
This shows that the bomb’s seat was in fact where the taxi driver was and not at the front. It is clear that an explosive was used to ignite the explosion. As the flames take hold, smoke becomes lighter and changes color as it consumes the vehicle.
The ‘Improvised Explosive devices have many components. Each component must operate at the right point and in the proper order to cause an explosion. Sometimes, the parts don’t work in their intended order.
It is possible the explosion we are seeing here has not set off the main charger.
Nick Aldworth is a former national counter-terrorism coordinator. However, Aldworth said that while the timing of the explosion was significant, it was “very open to discussion at the moment regarding what happened.”
According to BBC Radio 4, there’s’very limited blast damage’, which indicates that the item inside was either low yield or not working properly.