In the British counterterrorism offices, the statements of three men aged 21 to 29 are scrutinized on Monday with the greatest attention.
Arrested the day before, these suspects must help investigators explain the explosion of a taxi that occurred on Sunday morning in front of a hospital in Liverpool, in the north of England.
A "terrorist incident", confirms this Monday at midday the British police.
Searches were carried out, leading to these three arrests, but the exact circumstances of the tragedy are still unclear.
It has in any case made one death - the passenger, suspected of being at the origin of the explosion - and one injured - the taxi driver, hailed this Monday as a "hero" who avoided a "disaster".
According to The Daily Mail, the latter decided to lock his “suspicious” passenger in his taxi, before escaping.
This is Liverpool taxi driver David Perry who locked a Remembrance Sunday terrorist in his cab seconds before the bomber detonated an explosive device right outside a maternity hospital.
David's actions almost certainly saved many lives.
He is an absolute hero.
👏👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/qjHzGMxIUT
- Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) November 15, 2021
"He succeeded, in his heroic efforts, in averting what could have been an absolutely horrific disaster at the hospital," Liverpool Mayor Joanne Anderson said Monday on the BBC, confirming he had "locked the doors ”of the vehicle.
The man is said to be in hospital in stable condition, police said.
"The threat of terrorism has not disappeared"
The explosion, the circumstances still unclear, occurred Sunday morning when the United Kingdom commemorated the victims of wars, on the occasion of "Remembrance Sunday".
It occurred just before 11 a.m. local time (
Editor's note
, noon in Paris).
At the same time, a few hundred yards from the hospital parking lot, hundreds of soldiers, veterans and members of the public were gathering in Liverpool Cathedral.
"It reminds us that the threat of terrorism has not gone away," Conservative Party Chairman Oliver Dowden told SkyNews on Monday morning.
The latter underlined "the contrast between the cowardice of the terrorist attack and the bravery of ordinary Britons all over the country who put the lives of others before theirs", referring to the coolness of the taxi driver.
“We have to see exactly what happened, but if it does, it is yet another example of true bravery and courage,” he added.
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On Sunday evening, police announced the arrest of three men, aged 29, 26 and 21. The latter were arrested in the Kensington district of Liverpool under the Terrorism Act. "The passenger in the car - a man - was pronounced dead at the scene and has not yet been formally identified," North West England counterterrorism police said. This unit is in charge of the investigation with, according to the BBC, the support of the intelligence service MI5.
"A large cordon" police remains in place this Monday morning on Rutland Avenue in Liverpool, and "a small number of homes have been evacuated as a precaution" as part of the ongoing investigation, said Greater Manchester police.
On Sunday evening, Prime Minister Boris Johnson conveyed his thoughts "to all those affected by the terrible incident in Liverpool".
For its part, the police urged the population to "remain calm but vigilant".