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| Oli Scarff/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images |
In Manchester, a Loud Bang, Three seconds of silence, Then Screaming and Blood.
A lone suicide bomber blew himself up at a Ariana Grande pop concert filled with teenagers in Manchester, England, killing 22 and injuring 59 more in an apparent effort to harm as many young people as possible. Griff Witte and Karla Adam report: “British Prime Minister Theresa May said it was ‘now beyond doubt’ that it was a ‘callous, terrorist attack.’...
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- ISIS claimed responsibility, but authorities are still trying to determine if the suicide bomber acted alone or was part of a larger network.
- The Greater Manchester Police said that they arrested a 23-year-old man in south Manchester in connection with the attack, as hundreds of police swarmed through the city in the aftermath of the blast.
-- Well into Tuesday morning, fathers and mothers who had lost contact with their children posted desperate pleas for information on social media using the hashtag #ManchesterMissing.
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| This graphic shows where the explosion took place, in the foyer area, leading towards Victoria railway station Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4535702/Liverpool-schoolgirl-5-victim-Manchester-attack.html#ixzz4hyCXiVWB Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook |
Amid the terror and chaos that gripped Manchester, many residents took to social media to offer aid to those affected by the deadly blast. Isaac Stanley-Becker reports: “They came offering rooms and rides, food and drink. They came by [Twitter]— so often a site of anonymous derision — as a tool of collective uplift. The messages, some of which gained thousands of retweets, offered a small glimmer of hope in an otherwise ghastly night of carnage, confusion and loss. And as fear and uncertainty yet again gripped Western Europe, the response from those closest to the violence suggested an unwillingness to be cowed by such strikes. ‘I have a sofa, floor, blankets and tea, 5 minutes from Arena for anyone in need,’ one user offered. ‘If you need a place to crash I live around the corner from Manchester Arena,’ another wrote. Several hotels in Manchester sheltered children — who made up a large share of concert-goers — as frantic parents sought to locate them. And taxis in the city's center offered free rides through the night.”
Musician Ariana Grande, who was not injured in the blast, expressed her sorrow in a tweet: “broken,” she wrote. “from the bottom of my heart, i am so sorry. i don’t have words.” TMZ reports that she has suspended the rest of her “Dangerous Woman” tour, which was next scheduled for a stop in London on Thursday night.
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| Armed police officers outside the town hall in Manchester. Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images |
Manchester, united.
The United Kingdom is still on critical terror alert — meaning more attacks may be imminent. Up to 5,000 soldiers will be deployed to assist police on the streets of the UK under Operation Temperer.
- The victims (consistent with Grande’s fan base) were largely young women and girls, including an 8-year-old; the bombing shattered a celebratory, joyful atmosphere, likely leaving lasting psychic marks on many of the attendees (not to mention Grande herself). [The Guardian / Alexis Petridis]
- The police say they believe the attacker was carrying an improvised explosive device, which he detonated. [The Guardian ]
- Multiple witnesses said they heard an explosion, with one telling the Guardian the blast shook the building, before “everyone screamed and tried to get out”. [The Guardian ]
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| This is one of the first pictures of Manchester suicide bomber, Salman Abedi, taken some years ago during a class at a mosque. Photograph: handout |
- The bomber ... has been identified as Salman Abedi, a 23-year-old born in Manchester to Libyan-immigrant parents, who was known to acquaintances as someone with extreme views but not as a possible mass murderer. [The Guardian / Ian Cobain, Frances Perraudin, Steven Morris, and Nazia Parveen] Abedi was known to the security services but was not part of any active investigation or regarded as a high risk....
- Salman and his brother Ismail worshipped at Didsbury mosque, where their father, who is known as Abu Ismail within the community, is a well-known figure .... Abu Ismail ...who worked as an odd-job man in Manchester, is thought to be in Tripoli. His wife, Samia, is thought to be in Manchester. The couple are believed to have another son, Hashem, and a daughter, Jomana.
“Abu Ismail comes and goes between here and there,” the family friend said. “I can’t believe [Salman Abedi] would have been radicalised in Tripoli. All those types have been driven out of the city. It must have happened here. ... Officers also searched the home of his brother Ismail in the Chorlton area of south Manchester. - On Elsmore Road there was also some indication that Abedi was not always quiet and respectful. One neighbour said that when he spoke to him about parking his car so that others could not exit their drives, “all I got was this”, and he held up his middle finger.There were also reports that in recent weeks he had taken to chanting Islamic verses loudly in the street. Meanwhile, one former school friend was reported to have said that the last time he saw Abedi he had been a Manchester United fan who rarely discussed his faith. “He always had a bit of an attitude problem. I can’t say I really liked the man.” [The Guardian]
- (It’s ...worth pointing out that in Britain, news outlets often don’t report details of incidents, out of deference to ongoing law enforcement investigations; in this case, UK officials kept updating American officials, who would then turn around and leak to US outlets, which would then publish the information — freaking out the UK.) [BuzzFeed News / Mitch Prothero]]
- ...dozens of terrorists have emerged from this northern city – many from the area of Moss Side, which is less than two miles from Fallowfield, where Monday's bomber lived.Once impoverished, Moss Side has had its troubles: a white and West Indian gang culture, gun crime, and race riots. Now, even as it has been gentrified by students and young families, it suffers from another infamy.[ Daily Mail ]
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4535626/SUE-REID-Manchester-crucible-extremism.html#ixzz4hy2rNrO3
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| Bloodied concertgoers were pictured being helped by armed police outside the arena after explosions rang out at the gig Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4535626/SUE-REID-Manchester-crucible-extremism.html#ixzz4hyDampua Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook |