Explosions at an Ariana Grande concert Monday night at Manchester Arena in England have left multiple audience members dead.
As of now, the cause of the explosions is uncertain. Police have warned people to stay away from the venue and also confirmed via Twitter that there are multiple fatalities as well as others who are injured.
Police statement on incident at Manchester Arena pic.twitter.com/gaKASukx9a
— Greater Manchester Police (@gmpolice) May 22, 2017
Greater Manchester Police also confirmed that at least 19 people were killed and at least 50 people were injured. And until police receive information proving otherwise, they are treating it as a terrorist attack. One of Grande’s spokespeople reported the singer is okay.
There have been no additional explosions or attacks as of now, but Manchester city council spokesman Pat Carney said police are still treating it as a live site, according to BBC News:
“The public are really co-operating by staying away from what is basically now a crime site.
“The world we live in, police and the council have emergency procedures that we practise all the time.
“Obviously everyone in the city is shocked, having seen how young some of these people are
“The police are treating it as a live site, we don’t know if this is the end or there are other incidents in that area… we don’t know at the moment.”
Right after the concert finished, people reported hearing two explosions. One audience member, Sasina Akhtar, told the Manchester Evening News that she heard an explosion at the back of the arena when Grande’s set finished. When she turned around, she saw a graphic scene:
“She did her last song, we were in the lower tier and there was an explosion behind us at the back of the arena. We saw young girls with blood on them, everyone was screaming and people were running. There was lots of smoke.”
Here was the chaotic scene as audience members tried to rush out of the arena.
NEW: Video shows concertgoers fleeing Manchester Arena after reports of explosion at Ariana Grande show https://t.co/Wa7ebW4AcB pic.twitter.com/et6KeD3JmO
— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 22, 2017
Another concertgoer, Hannah Dane, told the Guardian about the scene outside the arena after the explosions:
She added: “As we got outside, lots of police came racing towards the area and the whole of the Victoria train station was surrounded by police.” She said there were people “screaming and crying everywhere shouting that there’s a bomb and also people were saying there’s a shooter”.
Here’s more on the scene outside the arena after the explosions.
https://twitter.com/JoeAaronGregory/status/866784565821677569
https://twitter.com/PoliticalRising/status/866792699550027776
https://twitter.com/helenpidd/status/866785488329465857
Armed police in central Manchester tonight. @PA pic.twitter.com/1qCm0Lb8Y3
— Patrick Hurst (@paddyhurst) May 22, 2017
A bomb disposal unit has just arrived outside the Manchester Arena. Can also hear sniffer dogs being brought out of the vans pic.twitter.com/SgTPZxMLyg
— Chris Slater (@chrisslaterMEN) May 22, 2017
https://twitter.com/fperraudin/status/866794727164829696
Roads surrounding the area have been closed and reports are that many people ran to a nearby hotel.
— Paul Britton. (@PaulBrittonMEN) May 22, 2017
Police presence here outside Manchester Arena. pic.twitter.com/eM6v7Ki64t
— Paul Britton. (@PaulBrittonMEN) May 22, 2017
https://twitter.com/helenpidd/status/866797180857798661
https://twitter.com/helenpidd/status/866801553478496256
https://twitter.com/helenpidd/status/866803021619089409