Liverpool Women’s Hospital Explosion: ‘Hero’ taxi driver David Perry leaves hospital and goes home | UK news

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The taxi driver who survived the car explosion outside Liverpool Women’s Hospital has been named David Perry.

It is understood that he has been discharged from the hospital and is recovering at home.

The male passenger in the car died at the scene in the Sunday morning incident and three men – aged 29, 26 and 21 – were arrested under the Terrorism Act.

The identity of the dead person has not yet been confirmed.

Photo: A person died in a fire outside the hospital Photo: Police were called to the scene shortly before 11am on Sunday. Pic: Chris Neal

Video shows the taxi – a black estate or a people carrier – slowly pulling yards from the hospital reception, with a violent explosion sending white smoke and debris billowing into the air as soon as it stops.

After she exits the smoke, the taxi driver escapes through the driver’s side door while a man in a yellow high-topped jacket rushes in to help.

The front of the car caught fire, but fortunately, the hospital appears deserted except for a few parked cars when the explosion occurred.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Joan Anderson, Mayor of Liverpool, said: “The taxi driver, in his heroic efforts, has succeeded in transforming what would have been an absolutely horrific disaster at the hospital.

Photo: An officer holds a piercing rifle, used to blow off the hinges of the door, at an address on Rutland Street.

“Our thanks go to him and our emergency services, the authorities worked through the night to turn anything further, and we were all on standby and in constant contact to provide any support needed.”

“Well, we learned that the taxi driver had stopped and locked the doors, we knew that early,” she added.

Phil Garrigan, the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service’s chief fire officer, said the fire was “fully developed” when his crews arrived and that the injured driver escaped before it was under control.

“Operational crews quickly put out the fire but as the police chief confirmed, there was only one fatality,” he told reporters.

After the explosion, armed police swooped down on several terraced homes on the city’s Sutcliffe Street, where the three were arrested.

Sections of Sutcliffe Street and Boaler Street remain cordoned off this morning, with a heavy police presence on the scene.

Similar police scene on Rutland Avenue in Sefton Park as a number of residents were evacuated overnight from their homes.

A convoy of seven unmarked cars – three trucks and four cars – entered the cordon in the early hours of the morning.

Counter-terrorism officers are leading the investigation “out of caution” but investigators say they are “open” about the cause.

Earlier, Conservative Party co-chair Oliver Dowden told Sky News it was a fast-moving investigation.

“It is an emerging situation and it is being reported to the Minister of Interior,” he said.

“It’s a reminder to all of us that the threat of terrorism has not gone away and how much we rely on our police and security services.”

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