Nineteen people were killed and about 50 injured following an incident Monday at Manchester Arena in England, where pop singer Ariana Grande was performing, Greater Manchester Police said. They have also recently released a statement that the incident is being treated as a “terrorist incident until police know otherwise.”
The warning to stay away from Manchester Arena came after reports of two loud explosions during Grande’s concert Monday night. The crowd was made up of mainly younger people, who had come to see Grande in her first of three scheduled concerts in the UK, on her European and Latin American tour.
EXPLOSION AT MANCHESTER ARENA AND EVERYONE RAN OUT SO SCARY? pic.twitter.com/pJbUBoELtE
— ♡♡ (@hannawwh) May 22, 2017
Ivo Delgado, a witness, told CNN he heard one explosion as the concert was ending. He said there was smoke in a main corridor outside the arena seating and stage area.
“It was a really big explosion. Everybody started screaming and running,” he said.
Delgago said: “There were people on the floor … There was a lot of confusion.”
Social media posts from the scene showed panicked concert goers running down the arena’s stairs in an attempt to get away.
I never ment to record this but this is me leaving ariana grande #DangerousWomantour #ManchesterArena hope everyone is safe and got out pic.twitter.com/TLu73UBl0x
— Rhianna burke (@RhiannaBurke) May 22, 2017
Greater Manchester Police tweeted that emergency services were “responding to serious incident at Manchester Arena. Avoid the area. More details will follow as soon as available.” They later tweeted that a “casualty bureau” was being set up at the arena site.
Video from near the scene showed a caravan of ambulances heading to the arena.
Ambulances out in force heading to Manchester Arena after all lining up on Thompson street fire station. pic.twitter.com/vpAFFUG0MI
— Sam Ward (@SamWardMCR) May 22, 2017
Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn offered support on Twitter. “Terrible incident in Manchester. My thoughts are with all those affected and our brilliant emergency services.”
By Samantha Beech and Darran Simon