Hillsborough: Minute's silence to mark 35th anniversary of disaster

Jürgen Klopp and Virgil van Dijk laid a wreath at the Hillsborough memorial at Anfield

A minute's silence will be held in Liverpool later to mark the 35th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster.

Ninety-seven men, women and children died as a result of the crush at the FA Cup semi-final on 15 April 1989.

The silence will be observed at Exchange Flags near the town hall at 15:06 BST, the time the match was halted 35 years ago.

A bell will then toll 97 times, in tribute to each victim.

Ninety-seven Liverpool fans died as a result of the disaster on 15 April 1989

The proceedings will be led by Lord Mayor of Liverpool Mary Rasmussen.

Flags will also be flown at half mast from civic buildings across the city and the town hall will light up red this evening, the council said.

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In an online statement, Liverpool Football Club said 15 April was "a significant and poignant date in the club's history".

"One which brings LFC together in remembrance and thought to remember the 97 who lost their lives and to share love and support for their families, the survivors and all those impacted by the tragedy."

Initial inquests for those who died in 1991 found they were accidental but the verdicts were quashed in 2012.

Families and survivors fought a 27-year campaign to prove their relatives and the supporters around them were not to blame.

A floral tribute signed from Jurgen, Virgil and the team at the Hillsborough memorial at Anfield

In 2016, a jury concluded the victims were unlawfully killed and found the supporters did not contribute to their deaths.

The families' campaign was helped by the setting up of the Hillsborough Independent Panel, which assisted in the full public disclosure of information relating to the disaster.

Professor Phil Scraton, the primary author of the panel's report, said today's tributes would also remember "the suffering of hundreds of survivors, and the endurance of the bereaved, many of whom have died prematurely as a direct consequence of their loss".

While the families achieved the inquest verdicts they had hoped for, he said: "It remains a stain on the justice process that no individual nor organisation has been held accountable in a criminal court."