{"id":321743,"date":"2017-05-23T07:08:13","date_gmt":"2017-05-23T07:08:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=321743"},"modified":"2017-05-23T07:08:13","modified_gmt":"2017-05-23T07:08:13","slug":"manchester-arena-attack-update-22-dead-and-59-hurt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/05\/manchester-arena-attack-update-22-dead-and-59-hurt\/","title":{"rendered":"Manchester Arena attack update : 22 dead and 59 hurt"},"content":{"rendered":"
Twenty-two people, including children, have been killed and 59 injured in a suspected suicide attack at Manchester Arena.<\/p>\n
The blast happened at 22:35 BST on Monday at the end of a concert by the US singer Ariana Grande.<\/p>\n
Greater Manchester Police said the lone male attacker, who died in the blast, was carrying an improvised explosive device which he detonated.<\/p>\n
Relatives are using social media to hunt for missing loved ones.<\/p>\n
Police have set up an emergency telephone number in response to the attack. It is: 0161 856 9400.<\/p>\n
Sixty ambulances attended the incident and those wounded are now being treated at six hospitals around the city.<\/p>\n
Chief Constable Ian Hopkins said it was “the most horrific incident” Greater Manchester had ever faced.<\/p>\n
He said the “fast-moving investigation” was now working to establish whether the attacker “was acting alone or as part of a network”.<\/p>\n
Eyewitnesses described seeing metal nuts and bolts among the debris, and spoke about the fear and confusion that gripped those caught up in the events.<\/p>\n
Andy Holey, who had gone to the arena to pick up his wife and daughter, said: “An explosion went off and it threw me about 30ft from one set of doors to the other set of doors.<\/p>\n
“When I got up I saw bodies lying on the ground. My first thought was to go into the arena to try to find my family.<\/p>\n
“I managed to find them eventually and they’re OK.”<\/p>\n
Emma Johnson said she and her husband were at the arena to pick up her children, aged 15 and 17.<\/p>\n
“We were stood at the top of the stairs and the glass exploded – it was near to where they were selling the merchandise,” she told BBC Radio Manchester.<\/p>\n
“The whole building shook. There was a blast and then a flash of fire afterwards. There were bodies everywhere.”<\/p>\n
The explosion occurred shortly after Ariana Grande left the stage at the arena – the city’s largest indoor venue with a concert capacity of around 21,000.<\/p>\n
Grande – a 23-year-old American TV teen actress-turned-singer – has a strong following among teenage girls and children.<\/p>\n