It has been confirmed that 22 people have been killed and 59 injured by a bomb that went off in the foyer area of Manchester Arena, the largest indoor arena in Europe.
The explosion occurred at around 10:33PM last night, just after popstar Ariana Grande had finished performing and concert goers (predominantly teens) were leaving the arena.
Here’s more from 9News:
British Prime Minister Theresa May has called the tragedy “an appalling terrorist attack”. Both Ms May and Labour rival Jeremy Corbyn have suspended their general election campaigns in the wake of the attack.
Trains out of Manchester’s Victoria Station stopped in the wake of the attack, and local taxis reportedly offered free rides.
From The Guardian, Chief constable Ian Hopkins said on the attack:
We have been treating this as a terrorist incident and we believe that while the attack last night was conducted by one man, the priority is to establish whether he was acting alone or as part of a network.
The attacker, I can confirm, died at the arena. We believe the attacker was carrying an improvised explosive device, which he detonated, causing this atrocity.
Grande took to Twitter to express her feelings:
There are many videos doing the rounds:
Of the bomb going off:
Inside the arena after the bomb had gone off:
#BREAKING Chaos inside #ArianaGrande concert in UK. Police are responding to "serious incident." Possible explosions. #ManchesterArena @WPTV pic.twitter.com/j042FcSJEh
— Chris Stewart (@CStewartNews) May 22, 2017
Outside the arena:
https://twitter.com/tdsdrive/status/866788599282511879?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesouthafrican.com%2Fwatch-explosion-at-manchester-arena-sends-britain-into-chaos-multiple-confirmed-deaths-video%2F
This guy claims to have recorded the moment the bomb detonated:
https://twitter.com/petalviews/status/866790778198274048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesouthafrican.com%2Fwatch-explosion-at-manchester-arena-sends-britain-into-chaos-multiple-confirmed-deaths-video%2F
The ambulances heading to the scene:
https://twitter.com/Daudoo/status/866783804303843329?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesouthafrican.com%2Fwatch-explosion-at-manchester-arena-sends-britain-into-chaos-multiple-confirmed-deaths-video%2F
Bomb squad going in:
https://twitter.com/fperraudin/status/866794727164829696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesouthafrican.com%2Fwatch-explosion-at-manchester-arena-sends-britain-into-chaos-multiple-confirmed-deaths-video%2F
Targeting teens? To what end?
We will keep you updated as news comes in.
