Brit suicide bomber kills 21 and injures 59 in Manchester pop concert atrocity
THE families of those caught up in the Manchester Arena slaughter faced the most agonising of waits for news of their loved ones.
They were desperate to know who had survived the carnage and who was among the 21 victims and 59 people injured.
Friends of Courtney Boyle, 19, told how she had gone to the venue to collect her sister Nicole Boyle, 14.
Courtney, a Leeds University criminology student, was last seen with her stepdad Philip Tron, 32, just as the concert ended.
Nothing has been heard from the pair since — but thankfully, Nicole managed to escape the atrocity.
Philip’s uncle Ken Mullen said the plumber and Courtney’s mum Deborah Wilkinson took Philip’s mum June Tron, 61, to Manchester shopping for the day before dropping Nicole off at the concert.
Ken, 67, said: “Philip and Courtney went across to the Arena at the end to collect her. They were heading towards the foyer where the bomb went off.”
Philip’s brothers, Michael, 28, and Andrew, 33, travelled from Tyne and Wear to Manchester in the early hours.
Ken, who was at June’s home in Gateshead, said: “They have no further news. June is still looking.”
Philip’s ex-wife Rachel Nesbitt, 32, said: “I got a message just before he went to the concert venue at 5.20pm. He replied to my message and just wrote, ‘No bother’.
“Our daughter is with my mother. I don’t know what to tell her, I am keeping her away from the TV news.”
Meanwhile, friends of the third named victim John Atkinson, 28, from Radcliffe, Greater Manchester, yesterday described him as an “amazing young man”.
A fundraising page set up to help the family with the funeral said: “John lost his life last night in the Manchester bomb attack. We are trying to help his family in any way possible.”
Chloe Rutherford, 17, and her boyfriend Liam Curry, 19, both from South Shields, were still missing last night, with pop group Little Mix appealing for help in finding them. Her father Mark Rutherford, said: “We are just waiting for news. I drove through the night to get here.”
Chloe’s elder brother Scott said Mark and mum Lisa, both 45, were clinging to hope. He added: “It doesn’t feel as though there is anything we can do.”
Bernard Wills, 36, a relative of Liam, said: “They are a great young couple, really loving, with a bright future. Nobody ever has a bad word to say about them.”
Charlotte Bowe, a member of Chloe’s family, said: “This is torturing, being sat around the telly for nine hours. Come on