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19 confirmed dead, more injured after explosion at Ariana Grande concert in Manchester UK

Manchester Arena
Manchester Arena

UPDATE 2: Death toll rises to 22, and Ariana Grande speaks.

UPDATE: Nineteen people are reported dead with 50 more injured from an explosion following an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Academy in Manchester, England on Monday night. The blast happened at approximately 10:35 PM BST outside the arena in the public foyer. It is being treated by authorities as a terrorist attack and BBC is reporting it may have been carried out by a suicide bomber. (NBC’s story says the same.) The most recent official statement from Greater Manchester Police department:

Earlier….

Details are still coming into focus but “serious incident” at an Ariana Grande concert tonight at in Manchester, UK with multiple reports of loud “bangs” from eyewitnesses. Police there have confirmed that there were a “number of fatalities.” The show was at Manchester Arena and this is from Reuters:

Police said they were responding to reports of an explosion and that there were a number of confirmed casualties and others injured.

“We were making our way out and when we were right by the door there was a massive explosion and everybody was screaming,” concert-goer Catherine Macfarlane told Reuters.

“It was a huge explosion — you could feel it in your chest. It was chaotic. Everybody was running and screaming and just trying to get out.”

Manchester Arena, the largest indoor arena in Europe, opened in 1995 and has a capacity for 21,000 people, according to its website. It is a popular concert and sporting venue.

A spokesman for Ariana Grande’s record label said that the singer was “okay”. A video posted on Twitter showed fans screaming and running out of the venue.

This story is still developing but this is the official statement from the Greater Manchester Police:

https://twitter.com/JoeAaronGregory/status/866784565821677569

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