It was like News black powder paint and a high-pitched sound... the heat was just unbelievable
MUM TELLS OF MOMENT ARENA BOMB DETONATED YARDS FROM HER
A MUM at Manchester Arena to collect her daughter and niece from the Ariana Grande concert told the public inquiry into the terror attack of the moment the bomb detonated.
Sarah Nellist said she was standing facing the doors to the Arena near a box office window at the time – and saw suicide bomber Salman Abedi.
The inquiry was told Ms Nellist was ‘struck and knocked to the ground by the effect of the detonation.’
Giving evidence to the public inquiry yesterday, she said Abedi ‘looked a bit odd’ and recalled that she believed he might have been there to collect a young relative. “It was on my left side view,” Ms Nellist said. “I just saw him stood there. There was no way I could see a bag from where I was stood.
“He just looked a bit odd. There were mums and dads there... I thought he was there to pick up his sister, and he didn’t want to be there.”
Ms Nellist said a couple of minutes later, the bomb exploded.
“It was in the corner of my eye. I saw him... he detonated the bomb,” she told the inquiry. “The only way I can describe it was like black powder paint. It was just like a high-pitched sound. I have never experienced anything like it before. The heat was just unbelievable.”
Ms Nellist said she initially struggled to stand up, then ran onto the Arena’s concourse area in a desperate attempt to find her daughter, then aged 17, and six-year-old niece. “I was trying to stand,” she said. “There was a loud fire alarm going off. Because I couldn’t really hear properly, I didn’t know what happened. I ran onto the concourse desperately trying to find my daughter and niece. I was trying to call my daughter. She answered the phone but I just couldn’t hear her. I ran through the concourse and I saw a man with a yellow jacket on. He told me not to run. He said I needed to get out.”
Ms Nellist said her daughter texted her to say she was standing by a sign saying ‘the school of music’ – and then ‘by a blue van.’ They were reunited outside Manchester Victoria station, the inquiry was told.
Ms Nellist, who was injured in the blast but managed to drive home to Wales before going to hospital, told how they covered up her niece’s face to stop her from witnessing anything.
“These things, I always thought, would never happen to me,” she said.
Ms Nellist said after the blast, she had no idea where she was going after being allowed to drive her car out of the Arena car park – and followed a car with a Welsh sticker on the back to get home. Her injuries were not detailed.
Her daughter’s ticket for the Ariana Grande concert was a Christmas present, the inquiry heard.
Ms Nellist said not all bags were searched before concert-goers were granted entry to the Arena. “They were not checking every single bag, she said. “My daughter’s bag was not checked.” The public inquiry into the bombing is now considering the experience of those who were present on the night and survived the blast. Evidence will be heard into next week.
Paul Greaney QC, counsel to the inquiry, said: “Work has been done to ensure the voices of survivors has been heard. The devastating experiences of those directly affected by the attack provide an emphatic confirmation of the need to do all that can be done to prevent future attacks.” He added: “The concert was intended to be an occasion of excitement and great joy and that only serves to accentuate the horror of what was to occur.”
The suicide bomb terrorist attack on May 22, 2017, killed 22 people including children, the youngest just eight. More than 260 people were physically injured. ●
I ran onto the concourse desperately trying to find my daughter and niece Sarah Nellist