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Liverpool Women's Hospital bombing

Coordinates: 53°23′56″N 2°57′34″W / 53.39889°N 2.95944°W / 53.39889; -2.95944
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Liverpool Women's Hospital bombing
Liverpool Women's Hospital general entrance with the car park outside
LocationLiverpool Women's Hospital, Liverpool, England
Coordinates53°23′56″N 2°57′34″W / 53.39889°N 2.95944°W / 53.39889; -2.95944
Date14 November 2021
c. 10:59 GMT (UTC±0)
Attack type
Car bombing
Deaths1 (the perpetrator)
Injured1
PerpetratorsEmad Al Swealmeen[1][2]

On 14 November 2021, there was an explosion in a taxi in the car park outside the main entrance of the Liverpool Women's Hospital in Liverpool, England. The passenger was killed and the driver of the taxi was injured. The explosion was later declared as a terrorist incident.

Incident

On 14 November 2021, at approximately 10:59 am GMT, an explosion occurred inside a taxi in the car park in front of the main entrance of the Liverpool Women's Hospital. The explosion was caused by an improvised explosive device which was carried by the taxi's passenger, 32-year-old Emad Al Swealmeen,[3] a man of Middle Eastern origin not known to MI5,[4] who was killed in the incident.[5][6][7][8] The taxi driver was admitted to hospital and described as "shaken and injured"[9]—including an ear needing to be sewn back on[10]—but released the following day.[11]

Merseyside Police attended the scene, along with fire and ambulance crews; they were accompanied by the Royal Logistics Corps' Bomb Squad. The hospital was placed under a lockdown, roads were closed and a cordon was in place around the hospital by the evening,[12] and armed police maintained a presence.

Map of Liverpool
Geography of events, including the route of the perpetrator's taxi journey.[4]

The bomber's motivation for the attack was not immediately known. One theory emerged that he was intending to walk to the cathedral and detonate his device as the congregation left.[4] The Independent questioned whether there was a "connection between the timing of the incident and the fact that it occurred on Remembrance Sunday, with the associated minute’s silence usually observed at 11am."[13] The hospital is a short distance from Liverpool Cathedral, where the remembrance service was taking place attended by thousands of veterans and military personnel with a subsequent parade.[10] On this, the police stated:

We are of course aware that there were remembrance events just a short distance away from the hospital and that the ignition occurred shortly before 11am. We cannot at this time draw any connection with this but it is a line of inquiry we are pursuing.[10]

Investigation

It was established that the taxi driver, David Perry, picked up the passenger in Rutland Avenue, approximately 10 minutes drive from the hospital. Early reports suggested that on arrival he locked the doors of his vehicle on his passenger before it went up in flames, although a Counterterrorism spokesman noted that officers had not yet spoken to Perry as of Sunday evening.[9]

The Telegraph reported that the perpetrator was unknown to MI5.[14]

The police made three arrests under the Terrorism Act, and although they had not at that point declared the explosion to be a terrorist incident,[15] they said the investigation was being run by counter terrorism officers, "out of caution".[12] Robert Wright of The Financial Times said that any determination that the incident is considered terrorism would be made by the Counter Terrorism Command of the Metropolitan Police.[16]

Liverpool Police armed units raided a property in the Sefton Park area, although the BBC noted that they had not "confirmed whether the two incidents are related".[15] Three men aged 29, 26, and 21 were arrested in the Kensington area of Liverpool[11] under the Terrorism Act.[12] Police later stated the arrests were a direct response to the attack.[10] The arrests were made on Boaler Street, which is within walking distance of the hospital.[16] A fourth man was arrested.[17][18] and a number of houses in the Sefton Park area had been evacuated. The Independent noted that this was a "usual precaution... where explosive materials are suspected or found".[10] A controlled explosion was carried out in the middle of Sefton Park, "a few hundred metres" from the house in Rutland Avenue[19] where bomb-making equipment was discovered.[20]

Perpetrator

The dead man was named as 32-year-old Emad al Swealmeen. Police stated that they believed he had lived at the Sutcliffe Street address for some time, but had recently started renting that in Rutland Avenue.[21]

Response

The Mayor of Liverpool, Joanne Anderson, made a statement,[22] while Prime Minister Boris Johnson congratulated Perry, stating that "it does look as though the taxi driver in question did behave with incredible presence of mind and bravery".[9] The shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth apologised on Monday evening having passed his condolences on to the family of the dead man without mentioning David Perry. He explained that a misreading of the news had led him to understand that the dead man had been an innocent member of the public.[19]

On 15 November 2021, the police declared the explosion a terrorist incident,[17][18] and the UK terror threat level was raised from substantial to severe.[23][note 1] MI5 joined the investigation on the same day of the incident in a support role for the local police,[9] while COBRA met on the morning of 15 November.[25]

Notes

  1. ^ This increase in alert indicated that further attacks were considered "highly likely" due to two attacks in a month: "The threat level is set by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, which is led by MI5".[7] The previous attack was the killing of David Amess, Conservative MP for Southend West, who was stabbed in his constituency office on 15 October 2021.[19][24]

References

  1. ^ https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/emad-al-swealmeen-liverpool-bomb-hospital-b1958126.html
  2. ^ https://news.sky.com/story/liverpool-explosion-man-killed-in-terror-incident-outside-hospital-named-by-police-12469578
  3. ^ https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-merseyside-59298586
  4. ^ a b c Mendick, Robert; Evans, Martin; Davies, Gareth (15 November 2021). "Liverpool bomber was of Middle Eastern background and not known to MI5 - latest updates". The Telegraph. (subscription required)
  5. ^ Brazell, Emma (15 November 2021). "Hero taxi driver 'locked suicide bomber in cab and jumped out' after explosion". Metro.
  6. ^ "Liverpool hospital taxi explosion: what we know so far". The Guardian. 15 November 2021. Retrieved 15 November 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ a b "Threat level raised after Liverpool taxi bomb - follow updates live". The Independent. 15 November 2021.
  8. ^ Dearden, Lizzie (15 November 2021). "Liverpool explosion: Police declare terrorist incident and say passenger 'built bomb detonated in taxi'". The Independent.
  9. ^ a b c d "Liverpool Women's Hospital explosion: Taxi driver David Perry's 'heroic efforts' praised". BBC News. 15 November 2021. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  10. ^ a b c d e "Terrorist incident declared after bomb detonated outside Liverpool hospital". The Independent. 15 November 2021.
  11. ^ a b "Counter-terrorism police arrest three". The Guardian. 14 November 2021.
  12. ^ a b c "Liverpool Women's Hospital: Three terror arrests after explosion kills one person and injures another". Sky News.
  13. ^ "One dead after car explodes outside Liverpool hospital". Independent. 14 November 2021.
  14. ^ Mendick, Robert; Evans, Martin; Davies, Gareth (15 November 2021). "Liverpool bomber was of Middle Eastern background and not known to MI5 - latest updates". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  15. ^ a b "Liverpool Women's Hospital: One dead in car explosion outside hospital". BBC News. 14 November 2021.
  16. ^ a b Wright, Robert (14 November 2021). "Counterterror police arrest three after fatal car explosion in Liverpool". Financial Times. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
  17. ^ a b "Liverpool hospital explosion: Motivation for car blast not clear - police". BBC News. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  18. ^ a b Wace, Charlotte; Brown, David; Hamilton, Fiona (15 November 2021). "Terror threat level raised to 'severe' after Liverpool explosion". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  19. ^ a b c Mendick, Robert; Evans, Martin; Davies, Gareth (15 November 2021). "Liverpool bomber was of Middle Eastern background and not known to MI5 - latest updates" – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  20. ^ https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/emad-al-swealmeen-liverpool-bomb-hospital-b1958126.html
  21. ^ https://news.sky.com/story/liverpool-explosion-man-killed-in-terror-incident-outside-hospital-named-by-police-12469578
  22. ^ Davies, Gareth; Evans, Martin (14 November 2021). "Liverpool Women's Hospital: Counter-terror police arrest three men after taxi explosion kills passenger". The Telegraph.
  23. ^ "Liverpool Women's Hospital explosion declared a terror incident". BBC News. 15 November 2021. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  24. ^ "Sir David Amess: Inquest opened and suspended into death of MP". Sky News.
  25. ^ "Liverpool explosion: Wife of taxi driver who ran from terror blast says it's 'utter miracle' he escaped". Sky News. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
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