Suicide bomber kills at least 22 at Ariana Grande concert in Britain - wrap at 1000GMT

Record ID: 876759

  • Title: Suicide bomber kills at least 22 at Ariana Grande concert in Britain - wrap at 1000GMT
  • Date: 23rd May 2017
  • Summary: MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, UK (MAY 23, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF POLICE CORDON WITH MANCHESTER ARENA IN BACKGROUND (SOUNDBITE) (English) SEBASTIAN DIAZ, 19-YEAR-OLD, WHO TRAVELLED FROM NEWCASTLE FOR CONCERT, SAYING: "It was literally just a minute after it ended. Lights came on and bomb went off. REPORTER ASKING: "What did you hear?" "Just screams, people were shouting 'It's a bomb' 'It's just balloons' 'It's a speaker that's popped' or something. It's just... everyone was confused, no one knew. The sound itself was just the loudest noise I've heard." (SOUNDBITE) (English) SEBASTIAN DIAZ, 19-YEAR-OLD, WHO TRAVELLED FROM NEWCASTLE FOR CONCERT, SAYING: "People were running past the doors screaming looking behind them and we were in two minds as to whether to stay in the Arena and just seek shelter or run, try and get out you know. We decided to go out and we ran, and people were screaming around us and pushing down the stairs to go outside and people were falling down, girls were crying and we saw these women being treated by paramedics, they had open wounds on their legs, no shoes, it was just chaos."
  • Embargoed: 6th June 2017 11:11
  • Keywords: Ariana Grande wrap suicide bombing attack Manchester Britain
  • Location: SOCIAL MEDIA WEBSITE AND MANCHESTER, UNITED KINGDOM; NEW YORK, USA
  • City: SOCIAL MEDIA WEBSITE AND MANCHESTER, UNITED KINGDOM; NEW YORK, USA
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Bombing (non-military),Conflicts/War/Peace
  • Reuters ID: LVA00C6I26N2F
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: At least 22 people, including some children, were killed and 59 were wounded when a suicide bomber struck as thousands of fans streamed out of a concert by U.S. singer Ariana Grande in the English city of Manchester on Monday night (May 22).
    Prime Minister Theresa May called an emergency meeting with intelligence chiefs on the deadliest militant assault in Britain since four British Muslims killed 52 people in suicide bombings on London's transport system in July 2005.
    Witnesses related the horror of the blast which prompted a stampede just as the concert ended at Europe's largest indoor arena.
    Police said the attacker detonated the explosives shortly after 10:33 p.m. at Manchester Arena, which has the capacity to hold 21,000 people. Children were among the dead, police said.
    Ariana Grande, 23, whose concerts attract a very large proportion of young women and girls, said on Twitter: "broken. from the bottom of my heart, i am so so sorry. i don't have words."
    An investigation was underway to establish whether the suicide bomber acted alone or was part of a network, Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police Ian Hopkins said.
    Islamic State supporters took to social media to celebrate the blast and some encouraged similar attacks elsewhere.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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