- Opinion
- 23 May 17
At least 22 fans - including children - were brutally murdered and a further 59 injured when a "nail bomb" exploded as concert-goers were leaving the Manchester Arena last night.
In what is the worst terrorist attack to have occurred on UK soil since the horrifying 7/7 incident when 52 people were murdered in London back in 2005, the British media are reporting that a suicide bomber targeted fans as they left Ariana Grande's concert last night. It's understood that the bomb was detonated in the foyer area between the Manchester Arena and the next-door Victoria station.
It was originally reported that 19 people were killed and 50 were injured, but the number has now increased to 22 fatalities and 59 injured.
Senior ranking police Chief Constable, Ian Hopkins said: "'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. We would ask people not to speculate on his details or share names. This is a complex and wide ranging investigation."
Eye witnesses have given horrifying accounts of "nuts and bolts flying everywhere" along with other deadly items like nails exploding out of the bomb, as fans made their way out of the concert and while parents waited in the foyer to pick up their children.
Eyewitness Catherine Macfarlane told Reuters: “We were making our way out and when we were right by the door there was a massive explosion and everybody was screaming.
“It was a huge explosion – you could feel it in your chest. It was chaotic. Everybody was running and screaming and just trying to get out.”
Another concert-goer, Abby Mullen said: "You never ever expect these things to happen to you but this proves it can happen to anybody.
"As we were leaving a bomb or explosion went off centimetres in front of me. People's skin and faeces were everywhere including in my hair and on my bag."
Abby added: "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."
Chief Constable Ian Hopkins from Greater Manchester Police has said that they are "currently treating this as a terrorist incident until we know otherwise". He added, "We are working closely with the national counter terrorism policing network and UK intelligence partners.
“This is clearly a concerning time for people but we are doing all we can, working with local and national agencies to support those affected and gather information about what has happened tonight.
"As you will understand, we are still receiving information and updates so will provide more details when we have a clearer picture."