A taxi driver in the United Kingdom’s (UK) Liverpool has garnered praise for averting a bomb explosion that may have killed many people.
Before surviving the detonation, the driver apparently detained a bomber inside his car. The precise moment the automobile detonated outside Liverpool Women’s Hospital was recorded on surveillance video.
The taxi driver, David Perry, confined the man who he suspected was carrying a suspicious object inside the vehicle.
The video shows Perry’s cab bursting immediately as it comes to a stop outside the hospital. As passers-by rush to aid, smoke engulfs the scene.
The driver is seen getting out of the car. The automobile is engulfed in flames a few seconds later.
According to accounts, the suspect originally requested the taxi driver to drop him off to Liverpool’s Service of Remembrance.
Perry was rushed to the hospital, where he was treated for non-life threatening injuries.
The driver’s “amazing presence of mind and bravery” was lauded by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Liverpool Mayor Joanne Anderson called the event as “unsettling and sad,” while complimenting Perry’s efforts. “The taxi driver in his heroic efforts has managed to divert what could have been an absolutely awful disaster,” she added.