Liverpool Women’s hospital blast: Boris Johnson to chair Cobra meeting after police declare terrorist incident – live updates

Reporters from PA have been speaking to neighbours of the arrested suspects.

Neighbour Sharon Cullen said she thought four men aged about in their 20s lived at the address in Sutcliffe Street.

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

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.”

Boris Johnson will chair an emergency Cobra meeting on Monday afternoon in response to the terrorist attack at Liverpool Women’shospital, Downing Street has said.

Asked on BBC News about the risk of people producing homemade bombs, Aldworth said the police “have become very good at reporting suspicious purchases of flammable materials”.

He said it is now much more difficult to make large explosive devices, such as those made in the past by the IRA, since “there are now rules around the sales and storage” of chemicals such as farms fertilisers.

Instead, increasingly terrorists use a large number of people to buy lots of small purchases to circumvent the rules, he said.

Nick Aldworth, the UK’s former counter-terrorism national co-ordinator, is analysing what police and security investigators will be focusing on that moment.

He told BBC News that what he had seen suggested it was either a “a low yield explosive” or “an intentionally incendiary advice or a much greater explosive that has failed to detonate”.

He added that lots of these devices are unstable and can cause fires without being detonated.

He added that “despite the intense fire that followed on from that explosion there are likely to be residual items of evidence” for example shrapnel or nuts and bolts. There is also likely to be evidence to the addresses where the suspects were based.

After the Manchester Arena bombing, investigators found chemicals used to make the device, which enabled them to determine the size of device and whether there may be any other devices circulating, he said.

He added that people should be especially vigilant in the move to wards Christmas, and that he hoped that this incident had reminded people of the threat of terrorism, which is currently at the “substantial” level in the UK.

More from PA on the arrest of the fourth suspect:

A cordon remains in place outside a terraced house in Sutcliffe Street, Kensington.

A grey Mondeo car parked adjacent is also taped off as uniformed officers continue to guard the front and side alley of the property.

Shortly after 9.10am a young man was put into the back of a police car outside the address.

Assistant Chief Constable Russ Jackson, from counter-terrorism policing north-west, said the arrested men were believed to be “associates” of the taxi passenger, PA Media reports.

He said officers were looking at his associates, his telephone records and purchases he may have made.

He said police had “attributed” the taxi passenger to both the addresses where officers were currently searching but were uncertain which address he lived at.

“We have got significant items in one of the addresses,” Jackson said.

Speaking to BBC News, the Liverpool mayor, Joanne Anderson, said she had driven past the Liverpool women’s hospital this morning, where the incident took place yesterday, and saw “plenty of police presence”.

She said: “I’m pretty sure they’re there to reassure the community, the police are doing everything they can to make sure we’re all safe.”

She added “most people are able to get about their business in the city”, but noted “we must remain calm but vigilant after this incident”.

She also praised the quick response from emergency services. “I can’t thank our emergency services enough, fire and police on the scene within minutes, arrests made quickly yesterday, people working through the night and everyone’s on standby ready to take action.”

Asked about the taxi driver, she said: “What an awful experience and jumping out of the taxi he’s lucky to have escaped in the way he did. it doesn’t bear thinking about what could have happened.

“I think it’s really important that we support him in recovering. It’s really important this man is able to recover from what must have been a horrific shock yesterday.”

Jackson added that emergency services quickly attended the scene and army ordinance disposal had since confirmed the area was safe. “It quickly remained apparent the passenger remained in the vehicle and was deceased,” he said, adding: “We believe we know the identity of passenger but cannot confirm at this time.”

He said: “Following discussions with ordinance disposal officers, we are able to confirm that this is being treated as the ignition of an explosive device. Our enquiries also indicate that the device was brought into the cab by the passenger.

The assumption at present is the explosive device was built by passenger in taxi, but that the reason it was taken to the women’s hospital was unknown, as is reason for sudden explosion.

He said: “We’re aware remembrance events were a short while away from hospital when the ignition occurred. We cannot draw connection but it’s a line of inquiry we are pursuing. Our inquiries will seek to understand how device was built, motivation for incident and to understand if anyone else was involved in it.”

Kennedy said: “I completely understood communities are concerned, I can assure officers are on ground providing high visibility support. Incidents such as this are very rare but I’d ask people to remain calm but also be vigilant and alert.

“There is no specific threat to the area, but I have asked for patrols to be increased right across Merseyside.

“There’s been lots of speculation on social media and false reports of further incidents. I’d urge members of public to rely on official information that will be released on our Twitter feed and website.

“Officers from counter terrorism north west are leading the investigation supported by Merseyside police.”

Jackson has also said that MI5 is involved.

Kennedy urged people to contact 999 with any concerns.

Police have declared the explosion at Liverpool Women’s hospital a terrorist incident in a news conference.

We heard from Merseyside’s chief constable, Serena Kennedy, and Russ Jackson from counter-terrorism policing north west.

Jackson said a fourth 20-year-old man has been arrested following the incident yesterday. This follows the arrest of three men aged 18, 26 and 29 who were arrested in Sutcliffe Street, in the central area of Kensington in Liverpool under the Terrorism Act. They will all be interviewed later today by counter-terrorism detectives.

He confirmed that this was now a terrorism incident.

Jackson also confirmed that the taxi driver picked up a passenger at 11am on Sunday, who asked to be taken to Liverpool women’s hospital, 10 minutes away. At drop-off, an explosion occurred within the car.

He said: “Remarkably, the taxi driver escaped from the cab. He’s being treated for injuries he sustained and is now released from hospital.”

The Liverpool mayor, Joanne Anderson, has praised the taxi driver for minimising the impact of the disaster in an interview on BBC news.

She said: “The taxi driver in his heroic efforts has managed to divert what could have been an absolutely awful disaster.

“We knew the taxi driver had stood out; the taxi driver locked the doors.

“Our thanks go to him.”

She also thanked the emergency services for supporting residents following the incidents on Twitter.

The police are expected to give a press conference shortly on their investigation into the blast in the taxi in Liverpool on Sunday.

In the meantime, Kim Johnson, the MP for Liverpool Riverside, is speaking to BBC News.

She said she understood that “counsellors and police will update us on what’s happening because it’s an ongoing investigation, there hasn’t been a declaration it was a terrorist attack.”

She added: “The local authorities need to be commended for responding so quickly and professionally to the explosion that took place yesterday

“It was a shocking incident and things could have been a lot worse but the car did receive a lot of fire damage but there’s little evidence to suggest there was a lot of bomb damage.

“It was a very concerning and very scary incident, coinciding with the remembrance event today, but there’s lots of speculation about what happened and we need to allow the services to conduct their investigations and not get involved with misinformation.”

Rachel Hall here leading the blog for today to keep you updated with all developments related to the Liverpool taxi fire as they happen. If I’ve missed anything, please do drop me a line at rachel.hall@theguardian.com, or you can reach me on Twitter.