Liverpool explosion: Wife of taxi driver who ran from terror blast says it's 'utter miracle' he escaped

The wife of the taxi driver who escaped when a suspected terrorist device exploded in his car has called it "an utter miracle" and said he is "lucky to be alive".

David Perry has already been discharged from hospital after running from his vehicle moments after the explosion outside Liverpool Women's Hospital on Sunday morning.

Posting on Facebook, Rachel Perry thanked friends for their messages and said her husband was "extremely sore and just trying to process what's happened".

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"The explosion happened whilst he was in the car and how he managed to escape is an utter miracle," she wrote.

"He certainly had some guardian angels looking after him."

She also appeared to dampen reports that Mr Perry had acted heroically.

It came after the prime minister said he had apparently acted with "incredible presence of mind and bravery", and Liverpool's mayor praised him for diverting "what could have been an absolutely awful disaster" by locking the taxi's doors.

"There are a lot of rumours flying round about him being a hero and locking the passenger inside the car... but the truth of the matter is, he is without a doubt lucky to be alive," Mrs Perry said.

She also thanked "amazing" medical staff and police for looking after the family.

"Let's pray this doesn't happen to anyone else," she added.

A CCTV video captured the moment of the explosion.

It shows the cab - a black estate or people carrier - slowly pulling up yards from reception and a violent blast sending white smoke and debris shooting into the air as soon as it stops.

Emerging from the smoke, Mr Perry runs from the driver's side door as a man in a yellow hi-viz vest dashes to help.

The vehicle is then engulfed in flames, but luckily at the moment of explosion the area appears deserted apart from some parked cars.

The male passenger of the car died at the scene and three men - 29, 26, and 21 - have been arrested under the Terrorism Act.

A fourth man, 20, has also been detained, police said on Monday morning.

The identity of the person killed hasn't been confirmed, but it's now been declared it a terrorist incident and investigators believe an improvised explosive device was to blame.

The UK's terror threat level has been raised from "substantial" to "severe", meaning an attack is now judged to be "highly likely".

Phil Garrigan, chief fire officer of Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service, said the blaze was "fully developed" when crews arrived and that the driver had escaped before it took hold.

After the explosion, armed police swooped on several terraced houses in Sutcliffe Street in the city, where the three arrests were made.

Sections of Sutcliffe Street and Boaler Street remain cordoned off on Monday morning, with a heavy police presence at the scene.

A similar police scene was in place at Rutland Avenue in Sefton Park, where a number of residents were evacuated overnight from their homes.

A convoy of seven unmarked vehicles - three vans and four cars - entered the cordon in the early hours of the morning.

Police said "significant items" had been found at one of the addresses.