Image Group LA/ABCAt least 19 people are dead and about 50 others injured after reports of an explosion at an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena, according to Greater Manchester Police. The injured are being treated at six different hospitals across Manchester.
Police said the situation “is currently being treated as a terrorist incident until police know otherwise.” If it remains classified as a terrorist attack, it’ll be the deadliest in the U.K. since the July 7, 2005 train and bus bombings during morning rush hour, which killed 52 people and injured more than 700.
Police said the situation “is currently being treated as a terrorist incident until police know otherwise.”
A rep for Ariana tells ABC News that Ariana is OK and that they are investigating what happened.
In a statement, Manchester Arena confirmed that there had been an incident but said it occurred outside the venue. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims,” it tweeted.
Concertgoer Josh Elliot tells the BBC, “Basically, she finished her last song. ‘Dangerous Woman,’ and the house lights came up and everyone started to walk out, and we heard like, a really like big bang – there was only one bang, people are saying there was two, we only heard one.” He added, “It was just, it was absolutely hectic, it was.. unreal – it was like, it was something out of a film, everyone was just charging towards… the doors.”
Abby Barker, who was at the concert, tells ABC News, “Ariana had just gone off stage and finished the show, all the music had cut off and the lights had gone on. People started getting up and leaving the arena. Next minute there was this extremely loud bang and I looked across the arena and everyone over there started running in different directions, screaming in panic. We all started panicking too and ran out the doors and ran down the stairs out of the arena. We got outside and children were crying their eyes out, people talking about it being a bomb/gunshots, there were many parents running towards the arena but no one knew exactly what it was”
Another concertgoer, Rebecca Beatty tells the BBC, “There was a lot of people pushing and really trying to get out quickly and obviously because of the congestion of people, I can understand there being injuries.”
Some fans posted video of the incident on Twitter.
Police also detonated what the initially called a “second suspect device” discovered at nearby Manchester Cathedral gardens. The detonation occurred at around 8:32 p.m. local time. Police then confirmed the suspect device was in fact abandoned clothing.
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EXPLOSION AT MANCHESTER ARENA AND EVERYONE RAN OUT SO SCARY😭 pic.twitter.com/pJbUBoELtE
— ♡♡ (@hannawwh) May 22, 2017
