Ariana Grande Manchester Concert: 19 Fatalities Confirmed After Explosion 
 
 UPDATE 3: Manchester police confirmed 19 are dead and around 50 injured. They received "reports of an explosion at Manchester Arena" just before 10:35pm local time. British Transportation Police report, "Officers are at Manchester Arena following reports of an explosion within the foyer area of the stadium at 10.30pm this evening." NBC reports that officials suspect a suicide bomber is to blame for the incident. 
 
 Latest statement on incident at Manchester Arena pic.twitter.com/BEpLOan3dY — G M Police (@gmpolice) May 23, 2017 
 
 UPDATE 2: Manchester's regional counter terrorism unit is treating this as a possible terrorist incident, according to the BBC's Daniel Sandford. 
 
 The North West Counter Terrorism Unit is treating the incident at #ManchesterArena as a possible terrorist incident. — Daniel Sandford (@BBCDanielS) May 22, 2017 
 
 UPDATE 1: Greater Manchester Police have issued a statement that there have been a number of confirmed fatalities and others injured at Manchester Arena. An on-the-ground source tells Billboard at least 18 have been reported dead. 
 
 Police statement on incident at Manchester Arena pic.twitter.com/gaKASukx9a — G M Police (@gmpolice) May 22, 2017 
 
 Emergency services have rushed to the U.K.'s Manchester Arena where Ariana Grande had been performing Monday (May 22) after concertgoers claim two explosions were heard. 
 
 Billboard has confirmed Grande is "okay" with the singer's rep and that her team is further investigating what happened. Supporting act BIA confirmed she and her team were also "okay." 
 
 So far no official report has been issued, but people at the concert and in the surrounding area are posting on social media that there were two bangs and people running out of the 21,000-person capacity arena. 
 
 CNN spoke to one of the concertgoers, Kiera Dawber, immediately after she exited the arena. Dawber said she saw "at least" 20 dead, and didn't think it looked like the deaths were the result of a stampede. "There was a massive explosion, a bang, smoke coming through the steps…It was just chaos." 
 
 Going through corridors to exit the arena, Dawber described seeing "at least 20, 30 people on the floor. Just… dead. You could see they were passed away, some people with injuries. There was a guy holding what looked like his wife and she wasn't in a good state….There was blood and shoes and handbags and bits of food and phones….I don't think I'll ever get rid of the images." 
 
 One man captured video of an emergency vehicle racing to the scene. See it here: 
 
 Two loud bangs heard around Manchester arena. People running out of the arena. No idea what's going on pic.twitter.com/KaRzQckvEE — Alan Brennan (@alanbmufc92) May 22, 2017 
 
 Others shared video from from the frightening scene inside the arena: 
 
 EXPLOSION AT MANCHESTER ARENA AND EVERYONE RAN OUT SO SCARY-- pic.twitter.com/pJbUBoELtE — ♡♡ (@hannawwh) May 22, 2017 
 
 New video shows mass panic as fans flee Ariana Grande concert at the #Manchester Arena after 2 explosions.pic.twitter.com/gufS5r7tRj — Tennessee (@TEN_GOP) May 22, 2017 
 
 I was inside Ariana Grande's concert in Manchester Arena. Right at the end a explosion was heard. Smoke on the corridors and blood — Critico en serio (@criticoenserio) May 22, 2017 
 
 Wtf is happening in Manchester arena? Massive bang & everyone is running & screaming, people are crying — Rebecca B (@RebeccaBx) May 22, 2017 
 
 Network Rail has told Reuters U.K. and other outlets that all train lines out of the Manchester Victoria station are currently blocked with emergency services in attendance. Mancunians around the arena are offering to take in anyone stranded in the area with the hashtag #RoomforManchester on Twitter. 
 
 Local police are calling it a "serious incident" and asking people to stay away from the area. 
 
 Emergency services responding to serious incident at Manchester Arena. Avoid the area. More details will follow as soon as available — G M Police (@gmpolice) May 22, 2017 
 
 Greater Manchester is the United Kingdom's second-most populous urban area with a population of 2.55 million. 
 
 We will update as more details become available. ||||| MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - British police on Tuesday identified the suicide bomber who killed 22 people, including children, in an attack on a crowded concert hall in Manchester, and said they were trying to establish whether he had acted alone or with help from others. 
 
 The man suspected of carrying out Britain's deadliest bombing in nearly 12 years was named as Salman Abedi, aged 22, but police declined to give further details about him. (For a graphic showing where the blast hit: tmsnrt.rs/2rKy5Y1) 
 
 U.S. security sources, citing British intelligence officials, said he was born in Manchester in 1994 to parents of Libyan origin. He is believed to have traveled by train from London before the attack, they said. 
 
 “Our priority, along with the police counter-terrorism network and our security partners, is to continue to establish whether he was acting alone or working as part of a wider network,” Manchester Police Chief Constable Ian Hopkins said. 
 
 The attacker set off his improvised bomb as crowds streamed out of the Manchester Arena after a pop concert by Ariana Grande, a U.S. singer especially popular with teenage girls. 
 
 “All acts of terrorism are cowardly,” Prime Minister Theresa May said outside her Downing Street office after a meeting with security and intelligence chiefs. 
 
 “But this attack stands out for its appalling sickening cowardice, deliberately targeting innocent, defenseless children and young people who should have been enjoying one of the most memorable nights of their lives.” 
 
 Britain has increased its security threat level to “critical” from “severe” following the attack, May said in a later televised statement, adding that members of the armed forces would boost security at key sites and military personnel might be deployed at public events such as concerts and sports events. 
 
 Islamic State, now being driven from territories in Syria and Iraq by Western-backed armed forces, claimed responsibility for what it called a revenge attack against “Crusaders”, but there appeared to be contradictions in its account of the operation. 
 
 FRANTIC SEARCHES 
 
 Witnesses related the horror of the blast, which unleashed a stampede just as the concert ended at Europe’s largest indoor arena, full to its capacity of 21,000. 
 
 “We ran and people were screaming around us and pushing on the stairs to go outside and people were falling down, girls were crying, and we saw these women being treated by paramedics having open wounds on their legs ... it was just chaos,” said Sebastian Diaz, 19. “It was literally just a minute after it ended, the lights came on and the bomb went off.” 
 
 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. 
 
 Singer Grande, 23, said on Twitter she was devastated: “broken. from the bottom of my heart, i am so so sorry. i don’t have words.” 
 
 The attack was the deadliest in the UK since four British Muslims killed 52 people in suicide bombings on London’s transport system in 2005. But it will have reverberations far beyond British shores. 
 
 Attacks in cities including Paris, Nice, Brussels, St Petersburg, Berlin and London have shocked Europeans already anxious over security challenges from mass immigration and pockets of domestic Islamist radicalism. Islamic State has repeatedly called for attacks as retaliation for Western involvement in the conflicts in Syria and Iraq. 
 
 While claiming responsibility on its Telegram account, the group appeared to contradict the police description of a suicide bomber. It suggested explosive devices were placed “in the midst of the gatherings of the Crusaders”. 
 
 “What comes next will be more severe on the worshippers of the cross,” the Telegram posting said. 
 
 It did not name the bomber, as it usually does in attacks it has ordered, and appeared also to contradict a posting on another Islamic State account, Amaq, which spoke of “a group of attackers”. That reference, however, was later removed. 
 
 People take part in a vigil for the victims of an attack on concert goers at Manchester Arena, in central Manchester, Britain May 23, 2017. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls 
 
 “DEPRAVED” 
 
 May said security services were working to see if a wider group was involved in the attack, which fell less than three weeks before a national election. Campaigning was suspended as a mark of respect. 
 
 May spoke to U.S. President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron and several other foreign leaders on Tuesday about the attack, her spokesman said. She also visited the police headquarters and a children’s hospital in Manchester. 
 
 The White House said Trump had agreed with May during their telephone conversation that the attack was “particularly wanton and depraved”. 
 
 Macron and senior French ministers walked to the British embassy in Paris to sign the condolence book. 
 
 German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it “will only strengthen our resolve to...work with our British friends against those who plan and carry out such inhumane deeds”. 
 
 The U.N. Security Council condemned “the barbaric and cowardly terrorist attack” and expressed solidarity with Britain in the fight against terrorism. 
 
 Queen Elizabeth held a minute’s silence at a garden party at Buckingham Palace in London. 
 
 Manchester remained on high alert, with additional armed police drafted in. London Mayor Sadiq Khan said more police had been ordered onto the streets of the British capital. 
 
 Police raided a property in the Manchester district of Fallowfield where they carried out a controlled explosion. 
 
 On Tuesday evening thousands of people attended a vigil in central Manchester in somber but defiant mood. 
 
 “There’s hard times again in these streets of our city, but we won’t take defeat and we don’t want your pity, because this is the place where we stand strong together with a smile on our face, Mancunians forever,” local poet Tony Walsh said in a poem he read to the crowd that drew loud cheers and applause. 
 
 Slideshow (24 Images) 
 
 British police do not routinely carry firearms, but London police said extra armed officers would be deployed at this weekend’s soccer cup final at Wembley and rugby at Twickenham. Security would be reviewed also for smaller events. 
 
 In March, a British-born convert to Islam plowed a car into pedestrians on London’s Westminster Bridge, killing four people before stabbing to death a police officer who was on the grounds of parliament. The man was shot dead at the scene. 
 
 In 2015, Pakistani student Abid Naseer was convicted in a U.S. court of conspiring with al Qaeda to blow up the Arndale shopping center in the center of Manchester in April 2009. ||||| These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites. ||||| Joseph Carozza, a representative from Ariana Grande's U.S. record label, said the singer is OK following reports of an explosion at her concert in Manchester, England. 
 
 Late tonight, Grande shared a message on Twitter writing: "broken. from the bottom of my heart, i am so sorry. i don't have words." 
 
 broken. 
 
 from the bottom of my heart, i am so so sorry. i don't have words. — Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) May 23, 2017 
 
 Police say 22 people are confirmed dead and around 59 others are injured following reports of a blast Monday night at Manchester Arena. 
 
 Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Ian Hopkins said children are among the deceased. 
 
 It is being treated as a terrorist incident until police know otherwise, Greater Manchester Police said late Monday. 
 
 Sky News reported that the concert was sold out Monday. 
 
 The Dangerous Woman Tour is the third concert tour by Grande to support her third studio album, Dangerous Woman. The tour began on February 3, 2017, in Phoenix, Arizona, at the Talking Stick Resort Arena. 
 
 Musicians and celebrities posted messages of support as reports unfolded about the incident. 
 
 "My heart breaks for everyone who endured the terrifying attack at Ariana Grande's show in Manchester," wrote Paula Abdul. 
 
 "Praying for everyone at @ArianaGrande's show," Katy Perry posted. 
 
 My heart breaks for everyone who endured the terrifying attack at Ariana Grande's show in Manchester. I'm praying for everyone there... — Paula Abdul (@PaulaAbdul) May 23, 2017 
 
 Our prayers and strengh to the victims and their families involved in this tragedy in Manchester. Stay strong. @ArianaGrande 🙏🏾 — Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) May 22, 2017 
 
 Praying for everyone at @ArianaGrande's show — KATY PERRY (@katyperry) May 22, 2017 
 
 Sending love to those affected in Manchester. — Ellie Goulding (@elliegoulding) May 22, 2017 
 
 Stunned by the news coming in from the UK… my thoughts are with the fans and families at Ariana’s Manchester show. Awful — Ryan Seacrest (@RyanSeacrest) May 22, 2017 
 
 Just saw the news about Manchester... Our hearts are breaking 💔 Prayers for all who attended, their families, Ari and her whole crew. — Fifth Harmony (@FifthHarmony) May 23, 2017 
 
 My heart is with you Manchester. — Brie Larson (@brielarson) May 23, 2017 
 
 I just heard about the attack at Ariana's concert.This is truly awful. I'm sending my deepest condolences & praying for every one affected🙏🏼 — Victoria Justice (@VictoriaJustice) May 23, 2017 
 
 Absolutely Horrendous what happened in Manchester tonight. My thoughts are with the great people of Manchester and also Ari and her team xx — Niall Horan (@NiallOfficial) May 23, 2017 
 
 Horrified hearing about what's going on in Manchester . Bless everyone x — Lily (@lilyallen) May 23, 2017 ||||| MANCHESTER, England — Children were among the 22 people killed in a suicide attack after an Ariana Grande concert at Britain's Manchester Arena, police confirmed Tuesday. 
 
 Meanwhile, authorities identified the suicide bomber responsible for the carnage as 22-year-old Salman Abedi and warned angry residents against any reprisals. 
 
 "We understand that feelings are very raw right now and people are looking for answers," Manchester Police Chief Constable Ian Hopkins said. "We will not tolerate hate towards any parts of our community." 
 
 Police also arrested a 23-year-old man in Manchester in connection with the attack. 
 
 Abedi had a British passport, sources told NBC News, but it was not immediately clear where he was born. He was killed when he detonated an improvised explosive device near one of the venue's exits at 10:33 p.m. local time Monday, officials said. 
 
 The pop star's fan base is primarily girls and teenagers, so the venue was packed full of families. 
 
 While Hopkins did not identify any of the dead, 8-year-old Saffie Rose Roussos' death was confirmed by her school. 
 
 Some 59 other people were wounded, including some who suffered life-threatening injuries, officials said. 
 
 And thousands of grieving Manchester residents were expected to attend a vigil at 6 p.m. local time Tuesday to remember the victims. 
 
 ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack but provided no evidence and neither U.S. nor British officials have corroborated that. 
 
 The blast sparked a nightlong search for loved ones as frantic parents tried to locate their children, and groups of friends scattered by the explosion sought each other. 
 
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 Video shot inside the 21,000-capacity venue showed terrified teenagers screaming as they made their way out amid a sea of pink balloons. Some fans were still wearing the singer and former Nickelodeon TV actress' trademark kitten ears as they fled. 
 
 "We have been treating this as a terrorist incident," Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Ian Hopkins told reporters. "Our priority is to establish whether he was acting alone or as part of a network." 
 
 Rohit Kachroo, security editor for NBC News' U.K. partner ITV News, reported that nuts and bolts were spotted in the arena's foyer but police would not comment on whether victims had suffered wounds from shrapnel. 
 
 “ When it exploded, it just rocked your whole body” 
 
 Police said the explosion took place outside the arena catching people as they exited, also triggering chaos inside the venue. U.S. officials said initial reports indicated that some of the injuries might have been caused by a stampede of concertgoers. 
 
 Nicola Murray, who was at the concert with her 12-year-old daughter Olivia, told NBC News that she witnessed "a red-orange-looking flash" and heard an "incredibly loud bang." 
 
 "Within seconds, as you can imagine, it was chaos and people were panicking and running to try and get out the door," she said. "We were getting swept with the people crushing to get out and I was terrified my daughter would get crushed. At one point, she was getting dragged away from me but I managed to pull her into me and force her in front of me while trying to direct her to the door and down the steps.” 
 
 Murray, who had traveled to the concert from the Scottish town of Hamilton, said the area outside the venue was "full of people who were completely traumatized — kids and adults alike all crying, screaming, some still running away ... adults in cars who were due to be picking up kids screaming trying to find them." 
 
 The scene after a suicide bombing in the foyer of the Manchester Arena on Monday. PA Wire/PA Images 
 
 Alison Pritchard, 34, who works as a waitress, recalled hearing "an almighty explosion behind us." 
 
 Her friend Carole Taylor, a 49-year-old teacher, told NBC News she turned around to see "this plume of smoke coming over and all this sort of debris and embers floating from the roof." 
 
 "When it exploded, it just rocked your whole body," she said. "It went right through us. People started screaming." 
 
 Related: A 'Very Horrified City' Embraces Kindness After Concert Attack 
 
 Steve Rotheram, the mayor of Liverpool, told NBC News his two daughters and two nieces were at the show. They described "pandemonium" at the scene with "people climbing over seats to get to exits [and] obviously there were a lot of young girls so there was a lot of screaming and panic," he said. 
 
 However, Rotheram's four relatives managed to escape safely. 
 
 Hopkins, the police chief, confirmed that children were among the dead and warned of "difficult days ahead." 
 
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 British Prime Minister Theresa May said the terrorist set out "to cause maximum carnage and kill and injure indiscriminately." 
 
 She added: "This attacks stands out for its appalling, sickening cowardice — deliberately targeting innocent and defenseless young people who should have been enjoying one of the most memorable nights of their lives.” 
 
 Related: Rock Legend's Daughter 'Safe' After Concert Carnage 
 
 Police said emergency services received 240 calls after the incident and victims were taken to eight hospitals. At least a dozen people aged under 16 were hospitalized. 
 
 Jon Rouse, a local health official, said the wounded included "a number of individuals who have very, very serious injuries ... and people who are going to be in hospital for a long time." 
 
 Ariana Grande performs at Madison Square Garden in New York on Feb. 23. Kevin Mazur / Getty Images for Republic Record 
 
 Grande, 23, tweeted early Tuesday: "broken. from the bottom of my heart, i am so so sorry. i don't have words." 
 
 In a statement, the pop star's manager Scooter Braun thanked first responders "who rushed towards danger to help save lives." 
 
 He added: "We ask all of you to hold the victims, their families and all those affected in your hearts and prayers." 
 
 Bianca Landrau, the Boston hip-hop star known as Bia, who also performed, tweeted: "Guys we are okay!!!" 
 
 And singer Victoria Monét, the opening act, said in a statement that she was safe but "heartbroken that loved ones who came to have the night of their lives ended up losing them." 
 
 "I wish I could say that I am OK, but I am not," she wrote, adding: "Please send all your prayers up high for Manchester." 
 
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 Britain's terrorist threat level stands at "severe," the second-highest rung on a five-point scale, meaning an attack is highly likely. 
 
 White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said President Donald Trump's national security team was keeping him up to date while he is in Israel. 
 
 Speaking after meeting with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem on Tuesday, Trump blamed "evil losers" for the attack, adding that he won't call terrorists "monsters" as "they'd think that's a great name." 
 
 He added: "We cannot stand for a moment longer for the slaughter of innocent people." 
 
 The Department of Homeland Security stressed that there was no information to indicate a specific credible threat involving U.S. music venues. 
 
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 Manchester Arena, which opened in 1995, is one of the largest indoor venues in Europe. More than 1 million people fill its seats every year. It is located near the Manchester Victoria transit station. 
 
 Local families offered beds for the night to people who had been affected by the explosion, and taxis provided free rides. 
 
 Before you speculate about those Muslims again, Muslim cabbies and taxi drivers giving free lifts to get ppl safe #Manchester — A.Wajid (@w47id) May 22, 2017 
 
 Manchester Muslim doctors working through the night, Manchester Muslim taxi drivers taking people home for free. You don't know Manchester. https://t.co/C8yXe7u0jw — Glenn Kitson (@Glenn_Kitson) May 23, 2017 
 
 A statement issued by Muslim organizations in the Manchester area said the community was “saddened and horrified" by the attack. 
 
 It added: “The perpetrators, whoever they may be, must bear the full consequences of their actions.” 
 
 This was Britain's deadliest terrorist attack since four suicide bombers killed 52 London commuters on three subway trains and a bus in July 2005. 
 
 Manchester is located 160 miles northwest of London. It was hit by a huge Irish Republican Army bomb in 1996 that leveled a swath of the city center. More than 200 people were injured in that attack, though no one was killed. 
 
 Came down to the postbox which was the last thing standing after the IRA bomb in 96.Manchester cordoned off again for the city's darkest day pic.twitter.com/YToPZtnghv — Will Perry (@willperryTV) May 23, 2017 
 
 Alexander Smith reported from Manchester. Eoghan Macguire and Jason Cumming reported from London. Alex Johnson reported from Los Angeles.
– Police say an explosion at an Ariana Grande concert in northern England has killed at least 19 people and injured about 50, the AP reports. Billboard has confirmed that the American singer herself is OK. Police suspect a suicide bomber set off the blast, which is being treated as a terrorist attack unless new information emerges, NBC News reports. A statement from Manchester Arena said the explosion took place outside the arena just after the concert, as people were exiting. "A huge bomb-like bang went off that hugely panicked everyone and we were all trying to flee the arena," concertgoer Majid Khan, 22, tells Britain's Press Association. "It was one bang and essentially everyone from the other side of the arena where the bang was heard from suddenly came running towards us as they were trying to exit." Video from inside the arena showed concertgoers screaming as they made their way out amid a sea of pink balloons. Authorities say most of those being taken to the hospital had shrapnel injuries. "Praying for everyone at Ariana Grande's show," tweeted Katy Perry, one of the many celebs taking to Twitter to voice support, per CBS News. Britain's terrorist threat level has been set at "severe" in recent years, indicating an attack is highly likely. Reuters reports Manchester Arena is the biggest indoor arena in all of Europe, and can hold 21,000. The concert was part of the 23-year-old Grande's Dangerous Woman Tour. After Manchester, Grande was to perform at venues in Belgium, Poland, Germany, Switzerland, and France, with concerts in Latin America and Asia to follow.