Manchester: At least 22 people, including children, killed and 59 others were injured after a suspected suicide bomber targeted a packed pop concert at Manchester Monday night in Britain's worst terror attack since 2005.
Police Tuesday morning confirmed that the suicide bomber died inside the arena after an improvised explosive device was detonated.
As the explosion tore through the lobby, terrified youngsters stampeded for the sold-out 21,000-seater stadium's exits in horrifying scenes caught on mobile phone cameras. Witnesses described the carnage as being 'like a war zone'.
Officials in the US said their UK counterparts had identified a possible male suicide bomber as being responsible for the atrocity. In a 3 a.m. press conference, Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Ian Hopkins confirmed his force were treating it as a terror attack. The injured are being treated at six hospitals, Hopkins added.
"We are working to establish full details of what is being treated by police as an appalling terrorist attack,” Prime Minister Theresa May said in a statement early Tuesday. "All our thoughts are with the victims and the families of those who have been affected,” she added.
No terror group has yet claimed responsibility for the blast, but ISIS supporters on Twitter celebrated the attack overnight. Also, Daily Mail reports that two messages were posted four hours before the attack, which appeared to predict the atrocity.
The attack is the worst in British history since the July 7, 2005 attack, when four terrorists detonated three bombs in backpacks in the London Underground, causing the death of 56 and the injury of more than 700 others.
The current terror threat level in the U.K. has been severe, which means a terror attack is highly likely.
Post Comments
| Quick links