SUICIDE BOMBER’ STRIKES AT MANCHESTER ARENA
22 PEOPLE WERE KILLED AND 59 INJURED IN TERRORIST ATTACK AS ‘NAIL BOMB NEAR THE EXIT’ EXPLODES, RIPPING INTO TEENS LEAVING PACKED ARIANA GRANDE GIG
At least 22 people - including children - are dead and 59 more injured after a suspected suicide bomber targeted youngsters leaving a packed pop concert at Manchester Arena yesterday in Britain’s worst terror attack since 7/7.
Witnesses told of nuts and bolts tearing into young concert-goers when the blast was detonated in the foyer area between the arena and the next-door Victoria station just after the Ariana Grande gig ended.
Horrifying footage showed petrified children leaping over chairs and barriers as they desperately tried to escape the 21,000-seat venue, which led to a stampede. Two US officials have said it was a suspected suicide bomber.
Armed officers surrounded the venue and bloodied casualties were seen being stretchered out of the concert that resembled a ‘war zone’.
Police carried out a controlled explosion at Cathedral Gardens after finding a second suspicious device.
Ian Hopkins, Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, said they were treating it as a ‘terrorist incident’ and that the injured were being cared for at six hospitals.
An hour later, Grande tweeted: “Broken. From the bottom of my heart, I am so so sorry. I don’t have words.” Evie Brewster, who attended the concert, told MailOnline: “Ariana Grande had just finished her last song and left the stage when a huge explosion sounded.
“Suddenly everybody started screaming and running for the exit.
“We could hear the Police and ambulance sirens. It was terrifying. “There were thousands of people trying to get out at once. They were all screaming and crying. The whole place smelt smokey and burnt. “The explosion sounded like it was inside the building somewhere.” Video footage showed thousands of people fleeing in tears from the venue, many covered in blood, as the concert finished.
Abby Mullen from Airdrie, who was at the event said: ‘As we were leaving a bomb or explosion went off centimetres in front of me.
“I’m still finding bits of God knows what in my hair. You never ever expect these things to happen to you, but this proves it can happen to anybody. “That sound, the blood and those who were running around clueless with body parts and bits of skin missing will not be leaving my mind any time soon or the minds of those involved.” Prior to the incident an unverified
Twitter account posted #IslamicState #Manchesterarena
It also said: “You forget our threat? This is the just terror”, along with an image of the ISIS flag.
The account has not been verified and was deleted shortly afterwards. Chris Parker, 33, was heading towards the box office when he heard an explosion.
He told The Sun: “There was nuts and bolts flying everywhere, and also human flesh. It was just one bang and a white flash.”
Manchester’s Victoria station, which backs onto the arena, was evacuated and all trains cancelled.
A North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust spokesman tweeted: “NWAS has taken 59 casualties from the Manchester Arena incident to various hospitals and treated a number of walking wounded on scene.” A spokesperson said the explosion happened within the foyer area of the venue, leading towards Victoria railway station. A bomb disposal unit were also spotted arriving at the scene.
The BBC have said senior counterterror officials are assembling in London tonight.
Jonathan Yates, 24, from the Wirral, told MailOnline: “The concert had finished and the lights came on almost instantly. There was a bang, a weird bang. There were lots of balloons but I thought to myself that can’t be a balloon, that’s not normal.
“We were sat on the floor level and it came from the higher seats, people were running and screaming. Everyone stopped and I turned to my friend and said ‘we need to run’. Everyone was running and screaming and then when we got out it felt a bit more OK.
“I heard five or six bangs that sounded like gunshots. When we got outside people were outside, crying and on their phones.
“You don’t think it’s something that’s going to happen when you go...it was such a nice, fun concert.”
Prime Minister Theresa May has said her thoughts are with the victims and families of those affected in ‘what is being treated by the police as an appalling terrorist attack’.
Andy Burnham, the newly elected Mayor of Manchester tweeted: ‘My heart goes out to families who have lost loved ones, my admiration to our brave emergency services. A terrible night for our great city’ US pop singer Grande was performing her Dangerous Woman European tour at Manchester Arena when the incident happened.
Later this week, she is scheduled to perform in London, followed by concerts in Belgium, Poland and Germany. A spokesperson for the singer said she was unharmed but inconsolable. Ariana Grande’s manager Scooter Braun has said ‘our hearts are broken’ following the attack after her gig at Manchester Arena, adding: “We mourn the lives of children and loved ones taken by this cowardly act.” Manchester Arena, the largest indoor arena in Europe, opened in 1995 and is a popular concert and sporting venue.
Britain is on its second-highest alert level of ‘severe’ meaning an attack by militants is considered highly likely.
British counter-terrorism police have said they are making on average an arrest every day in connection with suspected terrorism. Daily Mail