Man held over Manchester blast

24-year-old’s arrest brings number in custody to 11

LONDON // British police yesterday said they had arrested a new suspect in the terrorist attack at a pop concert in Manchester on May 22, bringing to 11 the number of men in custody. Authorities arrested the 24- year- old man last night in Rusholme, an inner-city area of Manchester.

“He was arrested on suspicion of offences contrary to the terrorism act,” police said.

Twenty- two people, including seven children, were killed in the attack at a concert by US singer Ariana Grande.

O Friday afternoon, an area in Rusholme was evacuated after police identified a car they said “may be significant to the investigation”.

British police have arrested 17 people, and six have been released without charge.

Bomber Salman Abedi’s father and brother are in detention in Libya, where authorities said the two brothers were part of ISIL, which claimed responsibility for the attack.

Grande returned to Manchester on Friday before a charity concert today to honour the victims of the attack.

She visited some of her fans who were being treated at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital. “This means more to us than all the amazing things people have done,” Peter Mann, whose daughter Jaden was injured in the attack, said after Grande’s visit.

Proceeds from today’s concert will go to a fund set up to help the victims’ families.

Tickets went on sale on Thursday and sold out within six minutes, with website Ticketmaster reporting “incredible” demand.

Meanwhile, an open-air weekend “Rock am Ring” concert near Germany’s Nuerburgring race track resumed yesterday after being suspended on Friday because of a possible terrorist threat.

“After intensive searches of the whole festival area, the suspicions have not hardened into an acute threat situation,” said the organisers, adding that po- lice had allowed the concert to proceed.

The deputy police chief of nearby Koblenz said no suspicious objects were found at the venue. The Manchester bombing led to changes in the security planning for the German concert and the number of security officials was increased substantially.

Police temporarily stopped the concert on Friday as they suspected three people from the western state of Hesse were planning to set off an explosion.

The three suspects, who had backstage passes, were detained and later released, police said.