Liverpool hospital bomb news – Terrorist Emad Al Swealmeen struck after UK asylum bids were were repeatedly rejected

Liverpool bomb: What we know so far

• Police named the man killed in the taxi bomb as 32-year-old Emad Al Swealmeen
• He also went by the name Enzo Almeni
• The terrorist was killed and taxi driver injured in a car bomb blast at Liverpool Women’s Hospital yesterday
• Hero cabbie Dave Perry locked the passenger in the taxi to prevent further disaster
• The horror is being treated as a terrorist incident
• There are claims the suspect was having an ongoing dispute with the Home Office
• His asylum claims had been rejected a number of times
• Four people have been arrested on suspicion of terror offences
• The bomb was homemade and manufactured ‘by the passenger in the taxi’

Pictured: Shocking moment taxi explodes in flames

The below image shows a fire breaking out of the side of the front passenger seat, with 20ft flames shooting upwards.

The blaze has taken hold of the whole car in less than a minute after it arrived.

A member of hospital staff tried in vain to douse the inferno with a fire extinguisher.

'Huge death toll averted'

BOMB squad hero Kim Hughes said there could have been carnage if the terrorist had got inside the Liverpool hospital.

The counter-terror expert, who won a George Cross in Afghanistan, said: “In a crowded ward, the potential for casualties is huge. If he had got onto a ward at the optimum moment, with people all around him, it would have been a different story.

“As it was, the bomb went off in a car park with almost nobody around. The car contained some of the blast.”

Mr Hughes, 42, director of Threat Reduction Ltd, said it looked like the bomb may have malfunctioned. He said: “It was a bomb within a car, not a car bomb. But we don’t know whether it was perpetrator-initiated or a malfunction. Was it in a bag in the footwell or in a pack on his back, which might explain how the driver survived.”

As little as four ounces of homemade explosives could have caused the blast, he said. If the car had been packed with explosives — like in Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan — it would have caused “utter devastation.

He said: “If you detonated 100kg in the boot, the vehicle would disappear. There would be a crater, the engine would probably end up 100 metres down the road and part of the hospital would have flattened.”

Explained: What do we know about the arrests?

On the evening of Sunday, November 14, 2021, Merseyside Police confirmed officers had arrested three men - aged 29, 26 & 21 - in the Kensington area of Liverpool under the Terrorism Act.

Counter Terrorism Police North West - which unites the counter terror operations of several forces in north-west England - carried out raids across the city.

Cops evacuated dozens of homes in an operation that remained ongoing into the morning of Monday, November 15. 

Hero cabbie pictured with head in hands moments after Liverpool hospital explosion

THE wife of the hero cabbie who cheated death when a terrorist blew himself up in his taxi thanked her hubby’s “guardian angels” yesterday for his “miracle” survival.

Dad-of-two David Perry, 43, jumped out seconds after the suicide bomber detonated a home-made device packed with ball bearings outside Liverpool Women’s Hospital on Remembrance Sunday.

Yet “selfless” David, who suffered blast injuries, discharged himself from hospital hours later to free up a bed and was yesterday recovering at home.

What has the hospital said?

Liverpool Women's Hospital has confirmed visiting was being restricted until further notice, with patients being diverted to other hospitals where possible.

It added: "Patients should wait to be contacted for updates about any planned appointments or other attendance at the hospital."

A statement said ambulances were still arriving and that staff could leave and enter "under the supervision of the police".

Greater Manchester Police statement on controlled explosion

“Officers investigating the explosion at Liverpool Women’s Hospital yesterday… have carried out a controlled explosion as a precaution at Sefton Park in Liverpool as part of the ongoing investigation,” Greater Manchester Police said in a statement.

“There is believed to be no wider risk to the public and the investigation continues.

Suspect was taken in by Christian family

The 32-year-old was born to an Iraqi mother - and grew up in Dubai before moving to the UK, it's understood.

Al-Swealmeen spent eight months living with devoted Christians Malcolm and Elizabeth Hitchott at their home in the Aigburth district of Liverpool.

Former solider Mr Hitchott said: “He first came to the cathedral in August 2015 and wanted to convert to Christianity.

“He took an Alpha Course, which explains the Christian faith, and completed it in November of that year.

“That enabled him to come to an informed decision and he changed from Islam to Christianity and was confirmed as a Christian just before he came to live with us.

“He was destitute at that time and we took him in.

Pictured: Armed cops arrest terror suspect at gunpoint 

THIS is the moment armed police arrested a terror suspect after a car explosion outside a women’s hospital.

Dramatic footage shows officers with guns yelling “don’t you f***ing move” as they storm the terraced home in Liverpool.

A man can be seen slowly walking out of a back door with his arms in the air.

One cop balances on a ladder at the edge of the garden wall with a gun trained on the house.

An officer then yells: “Show me your hands. Do not move.”

When did the Liverpool blast happen?

The car blew up in Liverpool at 10.59am, killing its “suspicious-looking” passenger as the country prepared to mark the Fallen at 11am on Remembrance Sunday.

Pals of the injured taxi driver, who was in a stable condition last night, said he acted courageously to thwart a bombing of the hospital, where 30 babies are born each day.

Controlled blast held yesterday at Sefton Park address

Police carried out a controlled explosion at the studio room in a Victorian property in Rutland Avenue.

The street is based in the city’s upmarket Sefton Park district.

Smoke billowed from the house following the 4pm blast, with families having already been evacuated.

'Long term dispute with Home Office'

It remained unclear when exactly the bomber entered the UK but it was understood he had been in a long-term dispute with the Home Office over his application for UK residential status.

And he had not been granted leave to remain here permanently.

A source told The Sun: “One of the issues being looked at is whether this unresolved grievance pushed him over the edge and prompted him to carry out the attack.”

Terrorist asked Cabbie be take him to hospital

Liverpool Women’s Hospital featured on hit Channel 4 series One Born Every Minute and sees 500,000 patients a year.

Around 1,350 staff work there. The hospital — where Coleen Rooney gave birth to her four sons — was immediately closed to visitors and a police cordon was thrown around it.

Women's Hospital boss says last two days 'upsetting and traumatising'

Kathryn Thomson, chief executive of Liverpool Women's Hospital, said in a statement that the last two days had been "extremely upsetting and traumatising" for people associated with the hospital.

She added that despite security and police on site, services are now running "as close to normal as can be expected".

Anyone who has any information should call police on 0161 856 1027 quoting Liverpool Women's Hospital incident.

Neighbour recalls 'frightening' moment police evacuated her from house

Another neighbour, Sharon Cullen, said she thought four men aged about in their 20s lived at the address.

She said: "I don't know any of them but one of them always seemed to be on a PC in his bedroom."

Mrs Cullen said she and her husband, 22-year-old daughter and two-year-old grandson were evacuated from their home at about 9.45pm on Sunday.

She said: "The police pounded on my door and an officer said 'we need to get you out of the house as soon as possible'.

"They said 'whatever is going on at the back of the house, it could blow the block'.

"It was really frightening."

Sutcliffe Street resident tells of moment police swooped in

Matthew Heitman, 26, who lives opposite the raided house in Sutcliffe Street, said: "Two of the men were marched out at gunpoint and they had them up against the wall.

"There wasn't any kind of struggle, they just walked out of the front.

"The people living there had not long moved in, maybe weeks or months."

Christian volunteer couple who took in suspect 'very' shocked by incident

According to reports, Al Swealmeen converted to Christianity after moving to the UK from the Middle East and was later briefly taken in by Christian volunteers Malcolm and Elizabeth Hitchcott in Liverpool.

Speaking to the BBC, Mrs Hitchcott said: "We're just so, so sad. We just loved him, he was a lovely guy."

Questioned if the couple were shocked by the incident, she added: "Very."

Mapped: Hospital car blast in Liverpool

Emad Jamil Al-Swealmeen, 32, blew himself up after the taxi exploded in a fireball just seconds after pulling up outside of Liverpool Women’s Hospital on Sunday morning.

Three of the suspects were arrested yesterday at Sutcliffe Street in the Kensington area of Liverpool, while today's arrest was made in the same area.

The officer confirmed two addresses in the city have been searched as a result of the investigation.

Act of terror

"Emergency services quickly attended the scene and Merseyside Fire and Rescue put out the fire following which it quickly became apparent that the passenger remained in the vehicle and was deceased.

"It is not clear what the motivation for this incident is.

"Our enquiries indicate that an improvised explosive device has been manufactured and our assumption so far is that this was built by the passenger in the taxi.

"The reason why he then took it to the Women's Hospital is unknown, as is the reason for its sudden explosion.

Police Scotland reassure's nation amid heightened terror threat level

A senior police officers has said there is "nothing to suggest there is any specific threat to Scotland" as the UK Government heightens the terror threat level.

The threat level was increased to severe on Monday, which means an attack is highly likely, after a man blew himself up outside a Liverpool hospital on Remembrance Sunday.

Police Scotland's Assistant Chief Constable Mark Williams moved to reassure people in the country that there was "nothing to suggest there is any specific threat to Scotland".

He said the decision by Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, was made following two recent incidents declared as terrorism, the killing of Sir David Amess and the incident in Liverpool on Sunday.

"While the terrorist threat in the UK is diverse, volatile and complex, I would stress at this time there is nothing to suggest there is any specific threat to Scotland," he said.

"I do want to take this opportunity to remind the public not to be alarmed, but to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity to Police Scotland."

What we know so far...

• Police named the man killed in the taxi bomb as 32-year-old Emad Al Swealmeen
• He also went by the name Enzo Almeni
• The terrorist was killed and taxi driver injured in a car bomb blast at Liverpool Women's Hospital yesterday
• Hero cabbie Dave Perry locked the passenger in the taxi to prevent further disaster
• The horror is being treated as a terrorist incident but the motive is unclear
• Four people have been arrested on suspicion of terror offences
• The bomb was homemade and manufactured 'by the passenger in the taxi'
• Boris Johnson will chair an emergency Cobra meeting today as the terror threat is raised to the second highest level of 'severe'

Police cordon remains at Rutland Avenue

A police cordon remains in place on Rutland Avenue near Sefton Park in Liverpool.

A crime scene investigator wearing a white suit was seen going in and out of a property in the street and a number of police vehicles were at the scene.

Police helped to carry shopping deliveries and a Deliveroo to properties within the cordon.