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22 Killed And 59 Wounded After Suicide Bomber Attacks Ariana Grande Concert
Children are among the dead. The blast at the pop concert is being called a terrorist attack.
At least 22 people were killed as they exited an Ariana Grande concert at Britain's Manchester Arena Monday night. According to NBC News, children are among the dead. The bomber also died after he detonated the improvised explosive device near one of the venue's exits.
Of the 59 wounded, some suffer life-threatening injuries. According to several reports, many concert goers remain missing. Parents have been frantically trying to find their children, and groups of friends scattered by the explosion searched for each other.
The 21,000-capacity arena was packed for the pop star’s concert. Panic ensued after the explosion. Videos captured teens fleeing the scene after the plast. Young girls, some wearing Ariana Grande’s trademark kitten ears, screamed as they escaped the arena full of pink balloons.
"We have been treating this as a terrorist incident," Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Ian Hopkins told reporters at a press conference Monday night. "Our priority is to establish whether he was acting alone or as part of a network."
Police have confirmed that a 23-year-old man had been arrested in Manchester in connection with the deadly bombing.
A security editor for NBC News' U.K. partner ITV News, reported that nuts and bolts were visible in the arena's foyer. However, police have not yet commented on whether victims had suffered shrapnel wounds.
Nicola McGraw Murray was at the concert with her 12-year-old daughter. She told NBC News that she saw "a red-orange-looking flash" and heard an "incredibly loud bang."
"Within seconds, as you can imagine, it was chaos and people were panicking and running to try and get out the door,” said Murray. “We were getting swept with the people crushing to get out and I was terrified my daughter would get crushed. At one point, she was getting dragged away from me but I managed to pull her into me and force her in front of me while trying to direct her to the door and down the steps."
Grande, 23, tweeted Tuesday morning that she is broken.
The crowd was made up primarily of young people.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd said in a CNN report, "This particular attack was aimed at the most vulnerable in our society, young people, children at a concert."
[Images courtesy of Getty Images]
