The shocking moment a taxi exploded as a homemade bomb went off outside Liverpool hospital

Footage has been released that shows the horrific moment a taxi exploded from a homemade bomb outside a hospital.

The man who set off the device, Emad Al Swealmeen, 32, died after it had exploded while he was in a taxi outside Liverpool Women's Hospital on November 14, 2021. Police believe the device, which contained hundreds of metal ball bearings, only partially exploded and went off earlier than planned but was still intended to result in multiple casualties.

The driver of the taxi, David Perry, managed to escape before the blast took off. Detective Superintendent Andy Meeks, of Counter Terrorism Policing North West, told a briefing on Monday there was no evidence anyone else was involved in planning the attack.

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He said: “Why he did it, in terms of the motives for what he did, our best assessment, based on all the information we’ve looked at, is that that was due to a grievance that he had for the repeated rejections of his asylum claim combined with mental ill health which seems to have also had a factor in his action.

“We didn’t find any evidence that he had any extremist beliefs of any kind.” Police and Crime Commissioner for Merseyside Emily Spurrell highlighted the importance of what influenced Al Awealmeen.

She said: “Today’s report raises more concerns around the effectiveness of our asylum system, the way claims are processed, support available to asylum seekers and what procedures are used to monitor those individuals who are refused permission to live in the UK.”

Al Swealmeen was born in Iraq but moved to Jordan