Car blast outside women's hospital declared terrorist incident as U.K. praises 'hero' cab driver

LONDON — A deadly car explosion outside a busy women’s hospital in the northwestern English city of Liverpool over the weekend was declared a terrorist incident by police on Monday.

“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,” Russ Jackson, head of Counterterrorism Policing in northwest England, said during a news 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 has now been released from hospital, police said. Neither man has been identified by police.

Three men, aged 21, 26 and 29, were arrested in connection with the incident on Sunday. A fourth man, aged 20, was arrested on Monday, police said.

Police and forensic officers work through the scene of a car explosion at Liverpool Women’s Hospital Monday morning.Christopher Furlong / Getty Images

Jackson said investigators believe an improvised explosive device was used in the blast.

“Our assumption so far is that this was built by the passenger in the taxi,” he said. “The reason why he then took it to the women’s hospital is unknown, as is the reason for its sudden explosion.”

Earlier Monday, Liverpool Mayor Joanne Anderson praised as “heroic” the actions of the taxi driver.

Anderson told the BBC that the driver 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.

The car involved was a taxi that pulled up at the hospital shortly before the explosion occurred, police said.

Jackson said it appears the taxi driver was asked by the passenger to take him to the women’s hospital, and as the taxi approached the drop-off point, an explosion rocked the car, quickly engulfing it in flames, but the driver managed to escape.

Photos from the scene showed a vehicle in flames near the hospital’s main entrance.

Jackson said “significant items” have been found during the search of an address in Liverpool in connection with the incident, and further searches might be necessary.

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: nbcnews.com