Liverpool blast: United Kingdom raises national threat level; probe underway

The United Kingdom raised a national level threat alert on Monday after a deadly explosion took place in a taxi outside a hospital in Liverpool on Sunday, that was later labelled as a ‘terrorist incident.' This left the passenger dead and the driver severely injured. This comes on a day when the UK police started a full-fledged investigation into the deadly explosion that occurred in a taxi outside a hospital in Liverpool.

Russ Jackson, the head of Counter-terrorism Policing in northwest England, said that the blast was caused by “the ignition of an explosive device” that was bought into the taxi by a passenger, as reported by the Associated Press.

UK's counter-terrorism police took to Twitter and informed, "The incident in Liverpool yesterday has been declared terrorism. Counter-Terrorism Policing, along with our partners, continue to work at pace."

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson had said that his thoughts are with the people who got affected by the ‘awful incident’. He also thanked the emergency services for their quick response and professionalism. Meanwhile, UK Home Secretary Priti Patel also took to Twitter to inform the citizens that the police and emergency services are working hard to establish what had happened.

Deadly explosion in Liverpool kills 1

The counter-terrorism police in Britain arrested three men after a taxi exploded outside the Liverpool Women’s Hospital, killing a passenger and injuring the taxi driver. According to AP, the suspects in their 20s were arrested by the police under the Terrorism Act on Sunday and a fourth man was arrested on Monday. The police informed that all the four convicts are the ‘associates’ of the passenger who got killed in the explosion. The police also cordoned off another residential street in the city. They did not disclose details of the operation. As per reports, the incident took place just before 11 am on Sunday, when a Remembrance Day service to commemorate war dead was being held near Liverpool Cathedral.

However, the motive behind this blast is still unknown. After the incident, Russ Jackson said at a press briefing, “Although the motivation for this incident is yet to be understood, given all the circumstances, it has been declared a terrorist incident.”

Image: AP