8-year-old U.K. bombing victim was ‘beautiful ... in every aspect’
When the bomb went off, Saffie Rose Roussos, 8, her mother and her older sister were heading out of Manchester Arena, among hundreds of concertgoers scrambling for Ariana Grande souvenirs before reaching the exits.
The Roussos were separated by the flying shrapnel and a stampede of people sprinting away and diving over barricades to escape the carnage, the Metro newspaper reported.
Lisa Roussos and Saffie’s sister, Ashlee Bromwich, both injured by shrapnel, were taken to separate hospitals. But as Monday night turned into Tuesday morning, no one could find Saffie.
Saffie’s picture joined the social media river of missing children whose loved ones tried to locate them with the hashtag #ManchesterMissing. Amplifying fears: reports from police that children were among the dead.
Authorities confirmed Saffie’s death Tuesday morning. She was believed to be the youngest victim of the suicide bomber, identified by authorities as Salman Abedi, 22.
Saffie’s family members couldn't be reached for comment Tuesday. The U.K-based Telegraph reported that they run a fishand-chip shop about 30 miles northwest of Manchester.
In an emailed statement, Chris Upton, the head teacher at Tarleton Community Primary School where Saffie was enrolled, said: “Saffie was simply a beautiful little girl in every aspect of the word. She was loved by everyone and her warmth and kindness will be remembered fondly.”
Georgina Callander, a student at Runshaw College in Leyland, England, where she was studying health and social care, was a mega fan of Ariana Grande, with a picture of the two circulating on social media as her name emerged as the first confirmed victim. She died of wounds from the attack at a hospital with her mother beside her, friends told the Evening Standard newspaper.
Peter Rawlinson, deputy of the Bishop Rawstorne Church of England Academy in Croston, northwest of Manchester, where Callander was a former pupil, said she “was academically a very gifted student, very hard-working..”
The school posted a photo of Georgina on its website, describing her as “very popular with her peers and the staff.”
John Atkinson, a man in his 20s from Radcliffe, about 10 miles north of Manchester, was also named as a fatality by friends on social media and in the British press.