BALLOONS FILL THE SKY IN EMOTIONAL TRIBUTES TO MANCHESTER BOMB VICTIMS
Thousands of blue and pink balloons filled the skies in tribute to a devoted young couple.
Seaham and Sunderland held balloon releases for Liam Curry, 19, and Chloe Rutherford, 17, who died in the Manchester terror attack on Monday night.
The pair were among 22 people who lost their lives when a suicide bomber struck at Manchester Arena following an Ariana Grande concert.
Yesterday evening hundreds of people from across the region went along to pay their respects to the South Shields couple, releasing balloons and lighting candles.
In Seaham, crowds gathered at the seafront, near the Marina, to let their balloons fly high for the pair at 5pm.
This event was organised by Laura Hall, 32, who worked with Li am’ slate father, Andrew, who sadly lost his battlewith cancer at the age of 49, just two months ago.
The mum-of-three, from Murton, said lots of people had messaged her to say they would be going along to the event because they wanted to do something to support the families of the teenagers.
She said: “It is such a terrible thing to have happened.”
An hour later, another balloon release was held in Sunderland, organised by dance teacher, Christine Young, 33, outside the Chance 2 Dance studio in Bonner’s Field.
The young dance students were joined by others who also wanted to pay their respects to both Chloe and Liam, and all the victims of the bombing.
Christine, said Chloe’s aunt and cousin are heavily involved in the dance world and they have competed at competitions together.
She said: “It’s very real and close to home with the deaths of Chloe and Liam, the dance world is a small place and I feel we need to show our respects.”
Hundreds of people also gathered at sites in South Shields last night to hold balloon releases for the pair.