At least 22 people, including
some children, were killed and 59 wounded when a suicide bomber struck
as thousands of fans streamed out of a concert by U.S. singer Ariana
Grande in the English city of Manchester on Monday.
Prime Minister
Theresa May said the incident was being treated as a terrorist attack,
making it the deadliest militant assault in Britain since four British
Muslims killed 52 people in suicide bombings on London's transport
system in July 2005.
Police said the attacker detonated the
explosives shortly after 10:33 pm (2133 GMT) at Manchester Arena, which
has the capacity to hold 21,000 people. Children were among the dead,
police said.
"We believe, at this stage, the attack last night was
conducted by one man," Manchester Chief Constable Ian Hopkins told
reporters. "The priority is to establish whether he was acting alone or
as part of a network.
"We believe the attacker was carrying an
improvised explosive device which he detonated causing this atrocity,"
said Hopkins, who declined to answer questions about whether the
attacker was British.
A witness who attended the concert said she
felt a huge blast as she was leaving the arena, followed by screaming
and a rush by thousands of people trying to escape the building.
A
video posted on Twitter showed fans, many of them young, screaming and
running from the venue. Dozens of parents frantically searched for their
children, posting photos and pleading for information on social media.