EVIL BEYOND BELIEF
How could jihadi barbarian murder our beautiful and innocent children?
BRITAIN was last night mourning the 22 innocent victims of an evil Islamic terrorist.
Jihadi suicide bomber Salman Abedi, 22, caused carnage when he detonated a device at the Manchester Arena.
Many of the victims were children who had gone to see a pop concert. The dead included “beautiful little girl” Saffie Roussos, who was aged just eight. Another 119 people suffered injuries.
The Queen declared the “whole nation” shocked by Monday’s “act of barbarity”.
‘They were screaming, they were running, they were crying’
AN eight-year-old schoolgirl attending her first pop concert was among 22 people slaughtered in the Manchester Arena suicide bomb blast.
Saffie Rose Roussos was at the sold-out Ariana Grande show with her mother and sister when she was killed by Salman Abedi’s homemade bomb.
She is understood to be the youngest ever female victim of a UK terror attack.
Her mother Lisa Roussos and sister Ashlee, who is in her 20s, were last night being treated in hospital for severe shrapnel injuries.
The schoolgirl from Preston had been given tickets to see her favourite singer and spent weeks telling friends at Tarleton Community Primary School how excited she was.
Headteacher Chris Upton said: “Saffie was simply a beautiful little girl in every aspect of the word. She was loved by everyone.
“The thought that anyone could go out to a concert and not come home is heartbreaking.”
College student Georgina Callander, 18, from Radcliffe, Lancs, and John Atkinson, 26, from Bury also perished.
The Runshaw College student was in the second year of her health and social care course. A huge fan, she had sent a Twitter message to the US star on Sunday saying: “SO EXCITED TO SEE YOU TOMORROW.”
She previously posted a picture of herself with the singer, taken in 2015, on her Instagram account.
Former EastEnders actor Sean Maguire tweeted to say he had met Georgina in April. He added: “She was so young & sweet. My love to her and all the families of the victims.”
Tributes were also paid to Mr Atkinson, described as a lovely man, as a fund for his family received more than £1,000 less than an hour after it was set up. “John was one in a million and loved by so many,” wrote friend Hayley Turk.
Of the 59 people taken to hospital, at least 12 were aged under 16.
As the death toll rose, hundreds of frantic parents, relatives and friends took to the streets of Manchester searching for missing loved ones.
Distraught Charlotte Campbell has not heard from her 15-year-old daughter Olivia since the attack.
Ms Campbell, from Manchester, said: “I last had contact with her at 8.30pm on Monday.
“She was at the concert, she’d just seen the support act and said she was having an amazing time and thanking me for letting her go. She was with her friend Adam. Adam is in hospital but Olivia has not been found yet.”
Ms Campbell said she had been at home “phoning everybody, hospitals, police, all these centres that the children have been put in”.
“Her dad is actually in Manchester looking for her. I’ve got friends out looking for her, I’ve got people I don’t even know out looking for her.”
Among those also feared dead was Kelly Brewster, 32, who saved her 11-year-old niece Hollie and sister Claire, 34, by shielding them.
The local government worker from Sheffield, bore the brunt of the blast and fell to the floor in a pool of blood.
As Claire screamed: “She’s not breathing” her daughter ran away in panic, forcing her mother to leave her stricken sister and give chase.
Last night the sisters’ uncle Paul Dryhurst revealed Claire and Hollie were in hospital having surgery to remove bolts from their bodies.
He said: “The three were walking out in single file, with Claire in front, Hollie behind her and Kelly behind her. When the bomb has gone off, the impact has broken Claire’s jaw and broken both Hollie’s legs.
“After the impact Claire had gone to Hollie but when she looked up she couldn’t find Kelly. They lost her in all the commotion.”
Two friends from the Scottish western isle of Barra were also caught up in the blast. Laura MacIntyre, 15, and Eilidh MacLeod, 14, had travelled to the concert together. Late yesterday afternoon Laura was found in hospital suffering from severe burns but Eilidh remains missing.
Emily Clague, the manager of a Travelodge in Manchester, yesterday shared a picture of Eilidh online.
She wrote: “Please please share. This is Eilidh MacLeod she is 14, last seen at the concert.
“I am with her mum & there is still no sign or contact from her, everywhere has been checked.”
Laura’s father Michael, her mother Nan, and Eilidh’s father Roddy were yesterday all travelling to Manchester.
Deborah Hutchinson was last night appealing for information about her teenage daughter and partner who were both at the concert.
Sharing a photo on Facebook, Deborah, from Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, said: “My daughter Courtney Boyle and partner Philip Tron have gone missing in a attack at Manchester tonight please share and help find them I need them home safe.” Leeds Beckett University student Courtney, 19, travelled to the venue with Mr Tron, 32, to pick up her sister Nicole, 14, who had been to the show with a friend.