LONDON: British police arrested three men under terrorism laws Sunday after a car exploded outside a hospital in Liverpool, killing one man and injuring another.
Counter-terrorism police said the three men, whose ages ranged from 21 to 29, were detained in the Kensington area of the northwest England city under the Terrorism Act.
Police also cordoned off another residential street in the city. They did not disclose details of the operation.
Police were called to reports of a blast involving a taxi at Liverpool Women’s Hospital on Sunday morning. Photos showed a vehicle in flames near the hospital’s main entrance.
Merseyside Police said in a statement that the vehicle, a taxi, “pulled up at the hospital shortly before the explosion occurred. Work is still going on to establish what has happened and could take some time before we are in a position to confirm anything.”
The male passenger of the car died and the driver was being treated for non life-threatening injuries, police said.
The explosion occurred just before 11 a.m. on Remembrance Sunday, the time people across Britain pause in memory of those killed in wars.
Police said the explosion had not been declared a terrorist attack and they were keeping an open mind about the cause, but counter-terrorism police were leading the investigation.
Britain’s interior minister, Home Secretary Priti Patel, said she was “being kept regularly updated on the awful incident.”
The Liverpool Women’s Hospital said it immediately restricted visiting access until further notice and diverted patients to other hospitals “where possible.”
Fire services said they extinguished the car fire rapidly, and a person had left the car before the fire “developed to the extent that it did.”
UK: 3 arrested over car explosion outside Liverpool hospital
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UK: 3 arrested over car explosion outside Liverpool hospital
- The male passenger of the car died and the driver was being treated for non life-threatening injuries, police said
Holders PSG, Real Madrid among clubs awaiting Champions League play-offs draw
- The draw for the knockout stage play-offs takes place on Friday
- Europe’s elite club competition is now more bloated than ever since the expansion last season to 36 teams in the Champions League proper
PARIS: Title-holders Paris Saint-Germain and record 15-time winners Real Madrid are among the European giants who will have to come through the play-off round of this season’s Champions League after missing out on direct qualification for the last 16.
The draw for the knockout stage play-offs takes place on Friday from 1100 GMT after the league phase concluded on Wednesday with the eighth and final round of games.
There was real drama on the last night, in particular in Lisbon where Jose Mourinho’s Benfica beat his former side Real 4-2, goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin scoring a 98th-minute goal that allowed the Portuguese giants to snatch the last spot in the play-offs and nudged their opponents out of the top eight.
Europe’s elite club competition is now more bloated than ever since the expansion last season to 36 teams in the Champions League proper.
That means 144 matches are now required to eliminate just 12 teams, with the top eight in the overall standings going through to the last 16 and the next 16 teams advancing to the play-offs.
At the end of it all, there are few real surprises, with the top 17 berths all occupied by clubs from the so-called big five European leagues of England (six), Spain (three), Italy (three), Germany (three) and France (PSG), with one exception in Portuguese giants Sporting.
Some big names did fall by the wayside, with Italian champions Napoli being bundled out along with three former champions in Marseille, PSV Eindhoven and Ajax. Athletic Bilbao, Villarreal and Eintracht Frankfurt were eliminated too.
The play-offs take place over two legs in February, with the eight winners completing the line-up for the last 16.
- Bodo/Glimt, Qarabag the surprises -
The most remarkable achievements in reaching the play-offs belong to Qarabag — the champions of Azerbaijan who advanced despite losing 6-0 to Liverpool in their final outing — and, above all, Bodo/Glimt.
Champions of Norway in four of the last six years, the outfit from north of the Arctic Circle beat Manchester City and Atletico Madrid in their last two matches to go through — despite their domestic season finishing at the end of November.
“We should be extremely proud,” said their coach Kjetil Knutsen, and Bodo/Glimt can now look forward to a glamor tie against either Real or last season’s beaten finalists Inter Milan.
The other possible tie for Madrid is an immediate rematch with Benfica, while other potential match-ups on Friday include PSG having to face domestic rivals Monaco and Borussia Dortmund having to play Bayer Leverkusen in all-Bundesliga showdown.
“We will have to take the long route, but I don’t think anyone else can be considered favorites more than us,” said PSG coach Luis Enrique of having to face an extra knockout tie, mindful that doing so last year did not stop the French side from going on to win the title.
“We deserve to be in this situation today,” admitted Real star Kylian Mbappe after his side’s loss in Lisbon saw them drop into the play-offs.
“Now we have to play two more play-off games. It hurts to have to play those, we wanted to have the time in February to work on our game.”
Real came through the play-offs last season, beating Manchester City before eventually losing to Arsenal in the quarter-finals.
This time City are one of their potential opponents in the last 16 in March, along with Sporting, should they make it through the play-offs.
Meanwhile, PSG already know they will play either Barcelona or Chelsea in the last 16, assuming they reach that stage — the Parisians beat Barcelona away earlier this season but lost to Chelsea in the Club World Cup final last July.
Arsenal, having finished first in the league phase, will take on one of Dortmund, Leverkusen, Atalanta or Olympiacos in the last 16.
Champions League knockout phase play-off draw teams
Seeded: Real Madrid (ESP), Inter Milan (ITA), Paris Saint-Germain (FRA), Newcastle United (ENG), Juventus (ITA), Atletico Madrid (ESP), Atalanta (ITA), Bayer Leverkusen (GER)
Unseeded: Borussia Dortmund (GER), Olympiacos (GRE), Club Brugge (BEL), Galatasaray (TUR), Monaco (FRA), Qarabag (AZE), Bodo/Glimt (NOR), Benfica (POR)
