Snap Decision from Heroic Taxi Driver Stops Depraved Suicide Bomber from Blowing Up Busy Hospital
As Britain raises its terror threat level amid fears of an undiscovered terror cell, a hero has emerged in the form of a Liverpool cab driver.
A man who killed himself in a suicide bombing gone awry had asked cabbie David Perry to take him to Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral, where 1,200 people were gathered on Sunday for a Remembrance Day ceremony, according to the U.K.’s Daily Mail.
A friend of Perry’s reportedly told the outlet that the passenger, who due to road closures could not reach the cathedral, asked to be taken to the Liverpool Women’s Hospital instead, after first asking to go to the center of the city.
We’d like to say a huge thank you to David Perry for his heroic efforts on Sunday.
Who knows how many NHS staff and patients could have been hurt without his incredible bravery.https://t.co/iD8GVECaSd
— NHS Million ? (@NHSMillion) November 15, 2021
“David noticed the man had some kind of light attached to his clothing and was messing around with it, it didn’t look right at all,” the friend said, according to the Daily Mail.
“I don’t know how he’s done it with a split second’s thought but David’s jumped out and locked the car with this guy in the back.
“As soon as he did, it’s gone off. If this guy got in the hospital God knows what could have happened. David’s the luckiest man in Britain as well as the most heroic,” the friend added.
Perry’s wife, Rachel, offered a slightly different version of the story in comments printed by the Manchester Evening News.
“There are a lot of rumors flying round about him being a hero and locking the passenger inside the car … but the truth of the matter is, he is without doubt, lucky to be alive,” she said, “The explosion happened whilst he was in the car and how he managed to escape is an utter miracle. He certainly had some guardian angels looking over him.”
“How he managed to escape is an utter miracle”.
Wife of taxi driver David Perry issues a statement thanking the emergency services after her husband escaped yesterday’s explosion in his cab outside Liverpool Women’s Hospital. pic.twitter.com/9tj2e1ftZN
— Paul Brand (@PaulBrandITV) November 15, 2021
The incident took place just before a moment of silence scheduled for 11 a.m. on Sunday. Remembrance Day is Britain’s commemoration of its war dead.
Perry suffered cuts, bruises and eardrum damage, but was released from the hospital.
Police are considering a theory that the bomb only partially exploded. But the reverberations of the explosion that demolished Perry’s cab urged authorities to spring into action.
On Monday, Britain raised its terrorism threat level from “substantial” to “severe,” meaning an attack is considered “highly likely,” according to The Washington Post.
Four people were arrested by anti-terrorism police following Sunday’s explosion, but all were released after questioning the next day.
VIDEO: Armed police conduct a raid in Liverpool.
Believed to be related to investigation into Liverpool taxi explosion.
— News This Second (@NewsThisSecond) November 14, 2021
“What we’re really saying to the public, as a result of what happened in Liverpool, is that everybody’s got to be vigilant,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.
The head of counterterrorism policing in northwestern England, Russ Jackson, said that “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.”
“Our inquiries are very much ongoing but at this stage we strongly believe that the deceased is 32-year-old Emad al Swealmeen,” detective chief inspector Andrew Meeks said.
He said police found “significant items” at one address police raided that had been one of two linked to al Swealmeen.
“We continue to appeal for any information about this incident and, now that we have released his name, any information that the public may have about al Swealmeen, no matter how small, may be of great assistance to us,” Meeks said.
The bombing incident follows last month’s fatal stabbing of conservative lawmaker David Amess in what police have labeled a terrorist incident.
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