A taxi driver has been hailed as a hero after he reportedly locked a suspicious passenger in his cab before the vehicle blew up outside a hospital in Liverpool.
David Perry's car was completely destroyed in the fireball outside Liverpool Women's Hospital yesterday morning (14 November), killing the passenger in the back who had asked to be taken to the Service of Remembrance at Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral just a mile away.
According to MailOnline, father-of-two Perry suffered just minor injuries including cuts, bruises, and damage to his ear drum.
He has already been discharged from the hospital, according to his friends.
Three men have since been arrested in connection with the incident, as anti-terror police performed a series of raids in an ongoing investigation.
Sources have said that the man in the cab asked Perry to pull over outside the hospital when they discovered that they couldn't get to the Remembrance Day event because streets were blocked off.
One friend said: "They couldn't get there, the roads were blocked off. The man changed his mind and asked to go to the city centre instead.
"But when they were going past the Women's Hospital he said to pull in there. It was just before 11.
"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.
"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.
"David's the luckiest man in Britain as well as the most heroic, if this guy got in the hospital God knows what could have happened."
Another friend added: "David suffered cuts and bruises, a perforated eardrum and needed stitches in his ear.
"He'll be sore in the morning but he's home.
"I'm just glad no new babies were leaving at the time. For David to have probably been terrified and think so fast and then end up OK - it's amazing."
Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted his thanks and support for the emergency services who responded after the explosion.
He added: "My thoughts are with all those affected by the awful incident in Liverpool today.'
Liverpool's Mayor Joanne Anderson called the incident 'unsettling and upsetting' and expressed her own thoughts for those who had been affected.
The investigation is ongoing.
Featured Image Credit: TwitterTopics: Liverpool, UK News, No-Article-Matching