At least 22 dead after lone suicide bomber targets Ariana Grande concert

A lone suicide bomber targeted the crowd outside an Ariana Grande concert, attended by thousands of young music fans in Manchester yesterday, killing at least 22 people and injuring dozens.

Greater Manchester Police said 22 people, children included, were confirmed dead after the explosion at Manchester Arena at 10.40pm.

Northwest Ambulance Service said 59 injured people had been taken to hospitals, and a number of ‘‘walking wounded’’ were treated at the scene.

Police cars, bomb disposal units and 60 ambulances raced to the scene as the scale of the carnage became clear.

‘‘This is a fast-moving investigation and we have significant resources deployed to both the investigation and the visible patrols that people will see across Greater Manchester as they wake up to news of the events last night. This will include armed officers as people would expect,’’ said Ian Hopkins, chief constable of Greater Manchester Police.

There was panic after the explosion, which struck as Grande was ending the concert, part of her Dangerous Woman Tour.

Grande, who was not injured, tweeted several hours later: ‘‘Broken. From the bottom of my heart, I am so so sorry. I don’t have words.’’

Manchester Arena said on its website that the blast struck outside the venue as concertgoers were leaving.

Jenny Brewster said she was leaving the concert with her 11-year-old daughter when the blast hit.

‘‘As I turned around, boom, one loud noise. A gentleman said ‘Run!’, so we ran.’’ Outside, she said, ‘‘you could smell the burning’’.

Another witness said she felt a huge blast as she was leaving the arena, followed by screaming and a rush by thousands of people trying to escape the building.

‘‘We were making our way out and when we were right by the door there was a massive explosion and everybody was screaming,’’ concertgoer Catherine Macfarlane said.

‘‘It was a huge explosion – you could feel it in your chest. It was chaotic. Everybody was running and screaming and just trying to get out.’’

‘‘A huge bomb-like bang went off that hugely panicked everyone, and we were all trying to flee the arena,’’ concertgoer Majid Khan, 22, said.

Oliver Jones, 17 added: ‘‘The bang echoed around the foyer of the arena and people started to run.’’

Video from inside the arena showed concertgoers screaming as they made their way out amid a sea of pink balloons.

British Prime Minister Theresa May said the government was working to establish the full details of what was ‘‘being treated by the police as an appalling terrorist attack’’.

‘‘All our thoughts are with the victims and the families of those who have been affected.’’

Britain’s terrorist threat level stands at ‘‘severe,’’ the secondhighest rung on a five-point scale, meaning an attack is highly likely.

May chaired a meeting of the government’s COBRA emergency committee yesterday. She and other candidates suspended campaigning for Britain’s June 8 general election.

If the incident is confirmed as a terrorist attack, it would be the deadliest in Britain since four suicide bombers killed 52 London commuters on three subway trains and a bus in July 2005.

Police advised the public to avoid the area around Manchester Arena, and the train station near the arena, Victoria Station, was evacuated and all trains cancelled.

Desperate parents and friends used social media to search for loved ones with images of happylooking teenagers posted next to pleas for help.

‘‘Everyone pls share this, my little sister Emma was at the Ari concert tonight in #Manchester and she isn’t answering her phone, pls help me,’’ said one message posted alongside a picture of a blonde-haired girl with flowers in her hair.

Another Twitter user called Erin:P urged people to help him find his sister: ‘‘She’s wearing a pink sweatshirt and blue jeans. Her name is Whitney.’’

A third Twitter account, Deplorable MrsK, posted a picture of a young man smiling and wearing a suit, saying: ‘‘My son was in the Manchester Arena today. He’s not picking up my call! Please.’’

Paula Robinson, 48, was at the train station next to the arena with her husband when she felt the explosion and saw dozens of teenage girls screaming and running away from the arena. ‘‘We ran out,’’ she said.

‘‘It was literally seconds after the explosion. I got the teens to run with me.’’

Robinson took dozens of teenage girls to the nearby Holiday Inn Express hotel and tweeted her phone number to worried parents, telling them to meet her there. ‘‘Parents were frantic running about trying to get to their children,’’ she said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but US officials drew parallels to the co-ordinated attacks in November 2015 by Islamist militants on the Bataclan concert hall and other sites in Paris, which claimed about 130 lives.