World reacts to shock attack
INNOCENTS: MANCHESTER CONCERT BOMBING’S YOUNGEST VICTIM ONLY 8 Police arrest 23-year-old in connection with attack at packed indoor arena.
Eight-year-old Saffie Rose Roussos was yesterday identified as one of the victims of a bomb attack on a packed Manchester pop concert on Monday night. According to medical officials, 12 children under the age of 16 were among the 59 injured in the suicide bombing, which claimed 22 lives.
David Ratcliffe, medical director of North West Ambulance Service, said the children were among those taken to hospitals after the explosion at Manchester Arena, where scores of teenagers and youngsters were attending an Ariana Grande concert.
Islamic State claimed the attack as revenge against “Crusaders” but Western experts were sceptical, noting IS had offered two accounts of the attack, partly contradicting each other and the British police version.
British police arrested a 23-year-old man in connection with the blast, carried out as crowds began leaving the concert.
They also raided a property in Fallowfield, where they carried out a controlled explosion.
In a statement outside her Downing Street offices after a meeting with security and intelligence chiefs, Prime Minister Theresa May said police believed they knew the identity of the bomber.
“All acts of terrorism are cowardly,” she said. “But this attack stands out for its appalling, sickening cowardice, deliberately targeting innocent, defenceless ... young people who should have been enjoying one of the most memorable nights of their lives.”
The northern English city remained on high alert, with additional armed police drafted in. London Mayor Sadiq Khan said more police had been ordered on to the streets of the UK capital.
Witnesses yesterday told of the horror blast, which unleashed a stampede at Europe’s largest indoor arena, full to a capacity of 21 000: “We ran and people were screaming around us. People were falling down, girls were crying, and we saw these women being treated by paramedics having open wounds on their legs ... it was just chaos,” said Sebastian Diaz, 19. “It was literally just a minute after it ended, the lights came on and the bomb went off.”
A source with knowledge of the situation said the explosive device was packed with metal and bolts.
Queen Elizabeth condemned the attack as an “act of barbarity”.