Bomb blast survivors denied tickets to Ariana benefit gig
A MOTHER and her two daughters who survived the Manchester bombing have been denied tickets to the Ariana Grande benefit gig this weekend.
Those who went to the show last Monday are being given free entry to the charity event on Sunday.
Passes for the concert at Old Trafford cricket ground in aid of bomb victims and their families were being handed out via online retailer Ticketmaster.
But Laura Smith and her children Lehanna, ten, and eight-year-old Aaliyah were told they could not register for the concert because they bought their tickets for the original event from resale website Get Me In – even though it is owned by Ticketmaster. The family, also including Laura’s partner Luke, spent £500 on the tickets.
General tickets for the benefit concert go on sale at 10am today, but they are expected to sell out quickly.
Miss Smith, a finance manager, said: ‘I’ve had messages from other people who were there last Monday who don’t want to go to the benefit concert.
‘They’ve said they’re going to claim for the free tickets anyway then I can buy them off them – I thought that’s unfair, people are going to be making a hell of a lot of money out of this, when that’s not what it was about. The poor children who have had to witness it all – it’s just such a shame.’
Ticketmaster said it was aware of the problem regarding Get Me In and ‘working on it’. It added: ‘We are doing everything possible to extend the offer to all fans we can verify were at the show.’
The benefit gig line-up includes US singer Miss Grande as well as Justin Bieber, Take That and Coldplay. The One Love Manchester concert will be screened live on the BBC, with proceeds going to the We Love Manchester fund.