What Happened At Ariana Grande Concert? Suicide Bomber Suspected For Explosion

At least 19 people were killed and up to 50 people were injured after a bomb exploded after an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena in England Monday, Reuters reported. A rep for the singer said she was OK after the attack. A suicide bomber was suspected.

Police immediately issued a statement. “Emergency services are currently responding to reports of an explosion at Manchester Arena. There are a number of confirmed fatalities and others injured,” the statement said. “Please AVOID the area as first responders work tirelessly at the scene. Details of a causality bureau will follow as soon as possible.”

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Police continued to update followers on their official Twitter account, which boasts 445,000 followers.

“Police responded to reports of an incident at Manchester Arena. Please stay away from the area. More details to follow,” their first tweet read. “Emergency services responding to serious incident at Manchester Arena. Avoid the area. More details will follow as soon as available.”

As people scrambled for answers, police advised to follow their twitter account for further updates.

“Details of a casualty bureau for incident at Manchester Arena will be shared as soon as available. Please stay away from the area,” they wrote. “For all updates on the incident at Manchester Arena please follow @gmpolice on Twitter.”

Grande’s condition and whereabouts was unknown at the time this article was published.

The explosion happened at the end of the show, 17-year-old witness Oliver Jones told the Guardian.

“I was in the toilet and heard a loud bang just after the concert had finished and people had started to leave. The bang echoed around the foyer of the arena and people started to run. I seen people running and screaming towards one direction and then many were turning around to run back the other way. Security was running out as well as the fans and concert goers. Reports of blood and people injured. In so much shock and panic. You see this on the news all the time and never expect it to happen to you. I just had to run and make sure me and my sister were safe.”

“Ariane Grande had just gone behind the curtain and the lights came up when there was this massive bang and a big cloud of smoke. I saw five people with blood all down them,” another witness told the publication.

Suzy Mitchell, a third witness, was at home across from the venue when she heard the explosion. “(I) just heard a huge bang from my bed, came out to the front of my apartments (we’re on the top floor so have perfect view) and everyone was running away in big crowds,” she told the Associated Press Monday, according to the Guardian.

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“The bang was so big I heard it from my room which is at the back of the apartment blocks. Currently lots of emergency services going to and from. But can’t see anything substantial as of yet except fleeing people and lots of cars.”

This story was updated Monday, May 22 at 10:28 p.m. EDT.

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