has described the blast as a barbaric act. police say they are working to establish exactly what happened. we are currently treating this as a terrorist incident, until we have further information. this is clearly a very concerning time for everyone. on breakfast this morning, we will bring you the latest from the scene, and reaction to what could be the uk's worst terror attack since the 7/7 london bombings. good morning, it is tuesday 23 may. the news we are waking up to this morning: an explosion at a concert venue in manchester, packed full of children and families, has claimed the lives of at least 19 people. theresa may has paid tribute to the victims, and will chair a meeting of the government's emergency committee later this morning. the metro mayor of manchester, andy burnham, has called it a terrible night for our great city. we will be getting a further statement from andy burnham at around 7:30am this morning. we will be live with louise at the scene in a moment, but first let's tell you exactly what we know so far. thousands of people were at the manchester arena to see the american singer ariana grande when an explosion was reported at 10:35pm. witnesses said she had just finished her performance when it happened. british transport police said the explosion was in the venue's foyer. shortly after the blast, manchester victoria station, which is close to the concert venue, was closed, and all trains cancelled. just after 1:00am, greater manchester police released a statement saying 19 people had been confirmed dead, with more than 50 others injured. those of you that have been to the manchester arena will know that it is right in the heart of the city centre, and that is where louise is for us this morning. good morning to you. let me tell you exactly where we are this morning. this is the police cordon, which is as close as you can get to the manchester arena. if you see in the far distance of your picture those stayers, that is the arena where this explosion happened, just after the concert ended last night —— stairs. i have spoken to eyewitnesses and they talk about their fear as they were running down the steps and trying to make an exit from the arena. this really is right at the heart of manchester. i can give you a sense of that, as well. we have got manchester cathedral here on my left, and there were so many young people at this concert last night. ariana grande is a 23—year—old american singer, and so we have heard stories about parents waiting on those steps, waiting in the foyer for their children to come out of this concert. and after that explosion went off. we will keep you up—to—date with everything we know about what happened last night. what we do know is that at least 19 people are dead and more than 50 are injured, as greg dawson reports. 0h, oh, my god. whatjust happened? this is the moment a concert arena filled with young people transformed into a scene of confusion and panic. in the chaos, thousands of people immediately scrambled for the exit. i was immediately scrambled for the exit. iwas like, immediately scrambled for the exit. i was like, we need to run. so we started running, we ran straight out the doors, all the way down to the hotel, the dollar could he was screaming, people crying, everyone wasjust running screaming, people crying, everyone was just running everywhere. screaming, people crying, everyone wasjust running everywhere. police say they believe the explosion happened in the foyer of the arena, and they are treating it as a terrorist attack. officers from greater manchester police and emergency services are working at the scene and are supporting those affected. we are co—ordinating the operation here at greater manchester police headquarters. the manchester arena is the city's biggest indoor venue, with a capacity of around 18,000 or concerts. many of those attending last night were children. i was near the box office on the foyer when it happened, waiting for my family to come out. i was talking to one of the girls, who was going on about how she is going on, only because she had the door open, we got blown forward, through the door, towards the arena. but the explosion was behind us, through us forward. but everyone who was behind us, every of them got injured. at least 60 ambulances were sent the end venue, with the injured taken to hospitals right across the city. hours later, waca one tweeted the words... —— ariana grande tweeted the words... the singer wasn't hurt in the incident. when she walked offstage she left behind a venue filled with euphoria. just moments later it was transformed into a scene later it was transformed into a scene of multiple deaths. iam right i am right on the edge, on what is a massive police cordoned around the manchester arena. and you can hear above me, if you can hear that noise, that is the police helicopter, still out at this time of the morning, several hours after that explosion. so many people talking of a night of how they tried to escape from the arena, about what they saw as well. i'm just going to speak to a couple of people who have been awake all night who were at that concert. kennedy hill, and her mum stephanie. thank you so much for coming to talk to us. and give us a little sense of... i know you were there last night, did you hear that something had happened? we heard a bang, and it wasn't a particularly loud bang, sort of an actor we rank. and in the concert she had released some helium, the helium balloons. we thought one of those had popped or a couple of them had popped, and so we looked at each other, and didn't really think anything of it. and when people started to panic and they started... cascading down the stairs, which people had just gone out to exit, we looked at each other and thought, what's gone on? and there were several seconds when the whole arena was still and silent, there was absolutely nothing, and then that was it, pandemonium started. people started rushing away from that area over to the area where we were. and it was like a bottleneck, and everybody is trying to get up the stairs, and there are phones being thrown on the floor, and people's shoes. we were running postures, which people had obviously not even thought about and just run. and we made our way to the top of the stairs, and we said to one of the stairs, and we said to one of the security guys who were working there, where do we go, which way we going? at that time we didn't know what it was. and he was like, i don't know, and everyone wasjust running in different directions. and they were young girls in twos and threes, just on the phone to parents, and one girl was having a panic attack, and she was on her own, and she couldn't find her mum, so we own, and she couldn't find her mum, so we kind of drag her with us. because we were, like, we are not leaving you here. we found her mum, just at the same time as a haze of smoke came around the corner. and that smell of bonfire night, when all the fireworks have gone off. we came out the steps. and i think the steps a re came out the steps. and i think the steps are right there. really, really steep steps. people were running down those, tripping over, things were just running down those, tripping over, things werejust going running down those, tripping over, things were just going flying. the police were all there, there were armed police, ambulances, it was just a dot they were there so quickly, it was unbelievable. but we didn't know, even then we didn't know what was going on. we were thinking, oh, my god, we are going to get shot. so we ran and we hid under a bridge for about a0 minutes, until we could calm ourselves down, just didn't want to go with the flow, because we were thinking that is the wrong thing to do. and i know there were lots of stories, and you talk about finding a young girl, a teenager, as well, of parents trying to find their children. so it was happenstance that you two were together, wasn't it? we didn't, we just... we were saying that before, i have no idea how we manage to stick together in all of that. because it was crazy. people... there must be broken bones where people were injured, because some of the force that people talk, it was just, you know, every man for himself. and just tell us a little bit about the people who were there. because she has a young family, doesn't she? everybody around us was a young boy next to us, we were literally surrounded by younger people than me, and i am 19. so yes. and they were enjoying it, they were really enjoyed the concert. and it is not something they should see. they just shouldn't have is not something they should see. theyjust shouldn't have happened, they shouldn't have been that many fatalities. they literally was heartbreak, we sat and watched the news. because you are not from here, are you, you can't get home at this point? no, our car is in the arena car park so we have been told that maybe later on today but probably tomorrow we will be able to get a car back. so we are probablyjust making plans now. we have stayed, hoping we can get into the car, and there is no chance of that so we are making plans to come home. and i know lots of people were offering help last night to people like you, who can't get home. that was great, but in the sense of what had just happened, a young guy came into the lobby of the hotel we were out, offering a lift, and thatjust happened and we... i mean, i don't think i will ever be able to be maybe at a festival of the crowd as such without being cautious. i mean, iam such without being cautious. i mean, i am cautious anyway, that is just really... that is terrifying, i had never run for my life, ever. never been so scared. no, me either. thank you both for talking to us. i hope you both for talking to us. i hope you get on saved. and that is the story that has been echoed throughout the night as well. and we understand that this explosion happened in the foyer, just after the concert had ended, and we have heard many, many stories overnight that will be talking to about on bbc brea kfast that will be talking to about on bbc breakfast about parents desperately trying to find their children. many of them waiting outside for their children and that explosion went off. the latest we know of official figures, and if you are waking up this morning to hear this news, it is that 19 people were killed in that explosion last night at the manchester arena. and over 50 have been injured. and we willjust keep you right up—to—date with all the latest information we have here on bbc breakfast. and louise will be outside the manchester arena throughout the programme this morning. and on a similar note to what louise was saying, greater manchester police have set up a hotline. the number is 0161856 9a00. that's 0161 856 9a00. we are also expecting a police press conference from greater manchester police at around 6:a5am this morning. they released a statement around 2am in the morning, but first we will hear from them since we have been net will be 6:a5am. and the metro mayor of manchester is expected to speak at around 7:30 a.m.. so there is plenty to bring you throughout the morning. the latest from the scene with louise as well. and you can be in the background of louise's shot the number of emergency services who we re number of emergency services who were on the scene. about the ambulances attended the manchester arena and the dozens of casualties to hospital, and steph is that the manchester royal infirmary for us this morning. good morning. this is one of six hospitals in the city where 59 casualties from the attack have been taken to overnight. so very busy here earlier, with lots of ambulances arriving. also blood being delivered to —— as well, obviously crucial to help victims. it has also been a time when we have been seeing relatives arriving as well. they have been arriving at night looking for loved ones and in the early hours of this morning there was a 17—year—old girl here who was looking for her mother. she found her mother's boyfriend in the hospital and was continuing to travel around to different hospitals looking for her mother. 0bviously there's a time of great confusion for lots of people, as dan was saying there is a help line that has been set up also greater manchester police have said they will be setting up a help centre at the etihad stadium where i will be travelling to later on in the morning. but certainly hear it is a lot quieter now. there have been lots of staff as well who are not on duty who have been suggesting they come in to help, everyone wanting to get all hands on deck so they have been offering their support. 0bviously been offering their support. obviously it has been declared a major incident here, so the director of the accident and emergency unit have said the staff if they do want to come in, please wait to be called and come in with the idea, as well. certainly the atmosphere this morning is one of trying to get on with theirjobs, morning is one of trying to get on with their jobs, really. morning is one of trying to get on with theirjobs, really. —— with their ids. and there was a crime scene their ids. and there was a crime scene investigation police car earlier on, which has gone off with various things as well. no news as yet how many people are in this particular hospital. we have been told they will be making a statement little bit later on and we will of course bring you up—to—date with that as we get it, but that is even now. thank you very much. greater manchester police is asking that anyone who needs assistance to make their way to the etihad and rena which is only around two miles lake. —— etihad arena. you are watching breakfast from bbc news. we are bringing you the very latest on the terrorist attack that has ranked the terrorist attack that has ranked the lives of 19 people at an ariana grande concert. the latest number of injured that we know is around about 59 at the moment. we will be live at the manchester arena with the wheeze who is down there this morning. ariana grande was on stage last night. this incident took place a p pa re ntly night. this incident took place apparently just as she finished the concert. the american singer gave some reaction on social media. this is what she said. a brief statement from her. there was further comment as there was further comment as well there was further comment as well from her manager who put this statement out, saying, "tonight are ha rd statement out, saying, "tonight are hard at broken. works cannot express our sorrow. hard at broken. works cannot express our sorrow. we mourn the lives of us children and loved ones taken by this cowardly act. we are thankful for the manchester's first responders who rushed towards disaster to help save lives. we ask that you hold all those affected in your hearts and prayers. " that is from ariana grande's manager. the conservatives, at labour, snp and liberal democrats have all abandoned their campaigning today in the general election. theresa may will chair a meeting of the government's emergency cobra committee. 0ur political correspondent, chris mason, is in downing street. we received a statementjust after two o'clock this morning from the prime minister to reason make that they are working to establish the full details on what is being treated by police as an appalling terrorist attacks. —— theresa may. injust the terrorist attacks. —— theresa may. in just the last half—hour or so, we received this statement from the home secretary. i know that some people will only just be waking up to the news of the horrific attacks in manchester last night. this was a barbaric attack, deliberately targeting some of the most vulnerable in our society, young people, children, out at a pop concert. my thoughts and prayers go out to the families, the vic 's, who have been affected —— the victims. i know the whole country will share that view. i would like to pay tribute to the emergency services who have worked throughout the night professionally and effectively. they have done an excellent job. professionally and effectively. they have done an excellentjob. later on this morning, i will be attending cobra, chaired by the prime minister, to collect more information, to find out more, about this particular attack and i can't comment any more on that at the moment. the public should remain alert but not alarmed and if they have anything to report, they should approach the police. but i have two further things to add. the great city of manchester has been affected by terrorism before. it's spirit was not proud, its community continued. this time it has been a particular attack on the most vulnerable in our society. its intention was to sow fear, its intention is to divide. but it will not succeed. also a statement from jeremy corbyn. he has also spoken to the prime minister. jeremy corbyn and theresa may are growing that all national campaigning in the general election will be suspended until further notice. the first minister of scotland, nicola sturgeon, also sang the thoughts of her and the scottish government are with the victims. she will convene at meeting of what is known as the scottish resilience committee to consider the implications for scotland. in terms of party politics, picking up on nicola sturgeon's comments, the snp we re nicola sturgeon's comments, the snp were due to post their manifesto this morning. that has been delayed until further notice. it will have very different tone, the campaigning, forat very different tone, the campaigning, for at least the next few days. we have terrible news to bring you if you have just tuned in. we have terrible news to bring you if you havejust tuned in. 19 people have been killed in a bombing at an ariana grande concert at manchester and arena last night. 19 dead confirmed by greater manchester police. currently, there are 59 that we know who were injured and at various hospitals are around greater manchester. the police will be holding a press conference at around 6a5. the help number is on the screen 6a5. the help number is on the screen and there are still people asking about those who were there, questions about information about the event generally and what might be happening in the aftermath. the boundaries bear, 0161856 9a00. louise is at the scene at manchester arena. —— the number is there. carol has this morning's weather. today, it will still warm. forthe next few days, if you follow this strap, high pressure is in charge of our weather. at times, cloud will come in from the west as it is wrapped around us. and then it will drift to the east. by the end of the week where it has been cloudy and misty in the west, we will see an improvement. this morning, that is the case across south—west england and wales. a lot of low cloud, missed, merck, coastalfog. the cloud extends through the rest of wales, hampshire and the direction of the isle of wight —— murk. we are looking at a sunny start as we are through northern england. northern ireland will have write a sunny skies and parts of scotland seeing a bit more cloud. the rest of scotland think some sunshine and an old weather front producing some rain across the northern isles. through the course of the day, some of the cloud will melt away but we will hang on to the murky conditions in wales and south—west england but again, some coastal mist coming in nothing on the english channel. cardigan bay. so many of us, are fine and dry day. a few showers in getting across western scotland. we are looking at temperatures between 16 and 20 but as we pushed down into the south—east, we could well see 2223. through this evening and overnight, again, some clear skies. -- 22 overnight, again, some clear skies. —— 22 and 23. we will also have some sea —— 22 and 23. we will also have some sea fog across the english channel. it is affecting the channel islands and southern counties of england. temperature wise, it will be a mild night for many of us with a range between nine and 15. for tomorrow, again, a bit of cloud across northern and western areas. still the sea fog very close to the south coast. you can see that coming in onshore and as we head on the latter pa rt onshore and as we head on the latter part of the week, it will be largely dry with lots of sunshine. this is where we see an improvement in the west. we also will see it become warm hot. the first day, a lot of dry weather. lots of sunshine, much brighter out towards the west. temperature is now on the up. as we continue to high pressure in the east, we are dragging in this warm continental air across our shores. by continental air across our shores. by the time we get to friday and saturday, we could be looking at highs up to 30 celsius and possibly even a little bit higher. at the most, high 20s. that is how the weather is looking. let's join lou again in manchester. carroll, thank you very much. if you arejust waking up, a programme is a bit different today. it is of course dominated what happened in event in manchester overnight. when that 19 people have been killed, over 50 injured, after this explosion at a concert here in the city. it really is right in the heart of the city. i will give you a sense again of where we are. this is the manchester arena right behind me. if you can see those iron railings. that is one of the excerpts of the arena where people were trained to get out of last night. —— exits. also the train station, manchester victoria. it last night. —— exits. also the train station, manchestervictoria. it is being part of what is being treated asa being part of what is being treated as a crime scene. there is a chord in all the way around the centre nobody is allowed in there. —— cordon. so many people coming to terms with what happened last night. i will speak to another couple of people. good morning to you. katy, how old are you? ten. tell us a little bit about the atmosphere when you are there. what was it like?m was loud, it was really hot. there was loud, it was really hot. there was lots of people shouting and obviously happy and big fans. many of them your age. you are just ten, rg? you are very lucky. —— aren't you? it was so hot in there so we left and took a stroll back, stayed at the hotel. we got up this morning and my husband said there has been a terrorist attack at ariana grande andl terrorist attack at ariana grande and i said, are you sure? he so it on the news and then you walk out to this. it's on lockdown. looking back, about 1030, i heard a big loud bang but i vision she had a big firework finale. i never imagined it would be at terrorist attack. you really get the sense that people travelling all the way from the north—west and the midlands to come here. this place was a buzz with people. this morning, it'sjust sombre, dead. how are you feeling this morning? i'm feeling dad that people have been put to risk. the people have been put to risk. the people being mean and that ariana grande's concept ended like this. think you put that very well. —— concert. there is obviously an ongoing investigation into what happened. you can hear the police helicopter. i have been here for the last hour or so and it is continually circling the huge cordoned off the area. if you are concerned this morning about anyone who may have been in the area last night. there is a telephone number which we will repeat on breakfast throughout the morning. it is 0161 856 9a00. throughout the morning, we will keep you up—to—date. they are emerging, the facts. right now, we can catch up with the news, the travel and the weather wherever you are watching us. good morning from bbc london news. in the wake of the suspected terrorist attack at the manchester — sadiq khan has said "london stands with manchester". the mayor tweeted "our thoughts are with all those killed and injured — and our brave emergency services." if confirmed as terrorism it would be the worst attack in the uk since the 7/7 london bombings nearly 12 years ago. in other news, four builders had to be taken to hospital and around 50 people were evacuated — after a shop collapsed in bushey in hertfordshire yesterday afternoon. the roof of the old post office on the high street collapsed ataround 2:00. the builders were treated for minor injuries. city—living significantly increases the risk of psychotic experiences in young people — such as hearing voices and paranoia. that's according to a study of 2,000 british 18—year—olds by kings college london. it found those growing up in urban areas were a0% more likely to have had episodes of psychosis than those who lived in the countryside. as many as 30 positive leads have been discovered as a result of investigations carried out on piles of rubbish ‘fly—tipped' under the aao. buckinghamshire county council's enforcement officers having been sifting through the mass of household and building material, old cars and electrical goods to uncover the evidence — which will now be shared with the environment agency. let's have a look at the travel situation now. 0n the tubes — a good service on all lines at the moment. if you're travelling to manchester this morning — trains from london are running as normal. some southern and gatwick express services are disrupted after a ‘low speed collision' in the depot at battersea. no—one was injured but the depot is closed for investigations. 0n the roads — we've got the usual delays building northbound at the blackwall tunnel. and in romford — waterloo road is closed between the high street and 0ldchurch road following a stabbing last night. after a very warm day yesterday let's see what it'll be like today. here's sara thornton. hello there. a very good morning to you. we got to 25 celsius in the capital yesterday. some beautiful sunsets yesterday evening captured by many of our weather watcher is. some lovely sunrises this morning suggesting we are set fair for another very pleasant day. that is a little bit more in the way of cloud will stop not ——. not quite the same as this morning. it is largely fair weather cloud, the cloud we have. we will stay dry. top temperature possibly 23 in the centre of london. tomorrow morning a game we start on a mild note as we go through the day. plenty of strong sunshine for you. temperature is doing betterfor tomorrow. 25— 26 celsius, certainly not impossible. we settled as we have a nice area of high pressure. as it drifts eastwards, it draws up ever warmer air. into the weekend, we are up ever warmer air. into the weekend, we are up in the mid— high 20s will stop possibly in the low 30s celsius. i'm back with the latest from the bbc london newsroom in half an hour. plenty more on our website at the usual address. now, though, it's back to dan and lou. bye for now. hello, very good morning to you. you are watching bbc breakfast and we have a very different programme this morning. iam here in have a very different programme this morning. i am here in manchester because of events last night here. 19 people have been killed and over 50 injured after there was an explosion right at the end of a concert here at the manchester arena, which is right behind me. i wa nt to arena, which is right behind me. i want to talk to ed thomas, one of our correspondence, who has been here all night, about exactly what happened. and i know we are still getting facts emerging. we understand that this explosion happened in the foyer of the manchester arena, which is right behind us. yes, we think this happened around 10:35 p.m., in the foyer, close to where you can see the top of those steps, quite high up. this is from the arena to the exit, a place where thousands will come out at the end of this concert. it isa come out at the end of this concert. it is a place where they will buy posters. it is a place where people will pick up t—shirts. it is a place where people are very vulnerable indeed. remember, louise, when you walk into this arena you are checked, your bags are checked, but when you walk out the doors are open and hundreds of people come out, and that means people can also get in. and we understand that the explosion happened after the concert had ended, and in some ways before many thousands of people were making their way out of the arena. yes, many of the people watching brea kfast many of the people watching breakfast this morning and see those pictures and hear those greens, there were around 12,000 or 13,000 people there, but there were hundreds of people exiting at the time of the blast and as we know 59 injured and 19 people killed. and what was striking hour after this was the absolute disbelief on the people coming out of here. so fathers holding on tightly to their 10—year—old and 12 your old daughters. remember, the vast majority of people coming out of there would have been children, young children and teenagers. and we heard stories last night, into the early hours of the morning, of pa rents early hours of the morning, of parents desperately searching for their children, people looking for their children, people looking for theirfriends. their children, people looking for their friends. it is heartbreaking. you just needed to take a look on social media and you could see the pa rent social media and you could see the parent is posting pictures of their children, asking have you seen my daughter, do you know where she is? this is her name, please get in touch with me. that's a man who was holding onto his ten and 12—year—old daughters, he was panicking, asking for help, how do i get out of here? and ina for help, how do i get out of here? and in a sign of what has happened in the city, a stranger came and saidi in the city, a stranger came and said i am not a taxi driver but i can take you home, i can take you away from here. and you and i have been there like many thousands of others without children. it is a very well organised place to go, isn't it? yes, extremely well organised. i take my 15—year—old daughter there, it feels so safe she can go with her friends but the thing that gets you here, louise, is that the place where you pick up your children is the foyer, and you wait at the exit anyway for your children to come out, as so many pa rents would children to come out, as so many parents would have done last night. and we know that the investigation is still top of the they are saying the early stages at this point, this isa the early stages at this point, this is a massive cordon at this point. so you have manchester cathedral, then you have the station, and the arena. police, antiterrorism investigators, they will not be rushed. this cordon will stay up. manchester is covered with cctv and there are hundreds of cameras. police will be going through this to get clu es police will be going through this to get clues to try and find out what is behind it. and part of that investigation is presumably as well the helicopter above us, and it is just on a constant circuit around us as we stand on the edge of the cordon. we are of course speaking to eyewitnesses, people who were in the concert at the time. earlier i spoke to kennedy and stephanie hill and they spoke to me about what they had seen they spoke to me about what they had seen and heard. we heard a bang, and it wasn't a particularly loud bang, it was sort of an echoey bang. and in the concert she'd released some helium — pink helium balloons. we thought one of those had popped, or a couple of them had popped. and so we looked at each other, and didn't really think anything of it. and when people started to panic, and they started... ..cascading down the stairs, which people had just gone out to exit, which we looked at each other like, well, what's going on? and there were several seconds when the whole arena was still and silent, there was absolutely nothing. and then that was it, pandemonium started. people started rushing away from that area, over to the area where we were. and there was like a bottleneck, and everybody‘s trying to get up the stairs, and there's phones being thrown on the floor, and people's shoes. we were running past shoes, which people had obviously not even thought about, and just run. and we made our way up to the top of the stairs, and we said to one of the security guys who were working there, well, where do we go, which way are we going? at that time, we didn't know what it was. and he was like, i don't know, and everyone wasjust running in different directions. and actually, as i say, you can see the stairs which they ran down, so many hundreds of thousands of people trying to get out safely from that area yesterday. we will keep you right up—to—date with all the details. we are expecting, i understand, a police news conference at about 6:a5am and as soon as that does happen we will bring it to you live on bbc breakfast. but of course this is an ongoing situation and it may be late. we will bring it to you as and when it happens. and again, i suppose the best way of describing this morning is that manchester is ina this morning is that manchester is in a sense in lockdown. because one of the main train station is where thousands of commuters will be trying to get to work this morning is right within that cordon and is closed at the moment. i will keep you right up—to—date with events as they happen here in manchester city centre. if you are just switching on your television, we bring you news this morning of a suspected terrorist attack in manchester, at the manchester arena, at a ariana grande concert last night. the explosion took place at around about 10:35 p.m.. we know that 19 people are dead and 59 injured at the moment. greater manchester police, as louise we re greater manchester police, as louise were saying, we greater manchester police, as louise were saying, we are greater manchester police, as louise were saying, we are expecting a press co nfe re nce were saying, we are expecting a press conference from them, and that subsequent investigation, in around about ten or 15 minutes or so. but as louise was saying, it is very movable this morning. we will bring you that as soon as we get it and at some stage we are hoping to hear from the metro map of manchester, andy burnham, as well. —— metro mayor. the conservatives, labour, snp and liberal democrats have all confirmed that today's campaigning in the general election has been suspended. theresa may will chair a meeting of the government's emergency cobra committee. 0ur political correspondent chris mason is in downing street. good morning to you, chris. yes, good morning from downing street, where understandably there is a very different tone and feel to what would have otherwise been a noisy celebration of democracy, really, ahead of the general election in a couple of weeks' time. we can expect that for the next few days at least there will be a real dialling down of campaigning, certainly at a national level, as you say. there is this cobra meeting, that is the government's emergency contingencies committee, involving senior ministers and police officers and intelligence officials which will gather here in the next couple of hours. and we received a statement overnight from the prime minister, sent to us shortly after 2am this morning. the prime minister saying we are working to establish the full details of what is being treated by the police as an appalling terrorist attack. all our thoughts are with the victims and the families of those affected. we can also bring you this statement from the home secretary, and the right. this was a barbaric attack, deliberately targeting some of the most vulnerable in our society. young people, children, out at a pop concert. my thoughts and prayers go out to the families, the victims who have been affected, and i know that the whole country will share that view. i would like to pay tribute to the emergency services, who have worked throughout the night, professionally and effectively. they have done an excellent job. and a statement as well within the last hour from jeremy corbyn, the leader of the labour party, saying he has spoken to his colleague andy burnham, the recently elected mayor of manchester, and he has also spoken to the prime minister, mr corbyn and mrs may agreeing that national campaigning will be suspended until further notice notice. first minister of scotland nicola sturgeon also sang her thoughts are with the victims. the election manifesto will not now be published today, but that has also been postponed. thank you very much for the latest from number ten downing street, and we will bring you the latest not only on this programme but throughout the day an bbc news on that meeting of the cobra committee, which is due to ta ke cobra committee, which is due to take place at around 9am this morning. we also expect a statement from greater manchester police shortly. in the early hours of this morning, greater manchester's chief constable, ian hopkins gave this update to reporters. we are currently treating this as a terrorist incident, until we have further information. we are working closely with national counterterrorism policing network and uk intelligence partners. this is clearly a very concerning time for everyone. we are doing all that we can, working with local and national agencies, to support those affected, as we gather information about what happened last night. it is important also that people here in manchester avoid the area around manchester arena, so that emergency services can continue to effectively deal with the incident at that location. that was chief constable ian hopkins, who gave a statement earlier this morning, around 2am at manchester arena. we are expecting more detailfrom greater manchester arena. we are expecting more detail from greater manchester police at around 6:a5 a.m.. they said there would be some sort of statement, but as you can understand this morning, timing may well slip. as soon as we hear that from greater manchester police will bring you the latest detail on that investigation. we were outside manchester arena with louise a few minutes ago. you could hear the helicopters overhead and there is plenty of cctv footage. and so many questions which are as yet u na nswered. and so many questions which are as yet unanswered. as the news of the explosion spread, many people went to manchester city centre to see if they could help by offering food and drinks the emergency services, and also lifts home from people caught up also lifts home from people caught up in the incident. we can get more of that now from our correspondent. there was the shock. there will be grief. but there has also been humanity, from people like ian who heard the news and had to leave their beds. i havejust heard the news and had to leave their beds. i have just come down here to see if anyone needed a lift home, if they were stranded. like these two. we live around the corner and we wanted to see if anyone needed someone to sit with while waiting for a taxi. they've told me he drove into the city to offer free phase. these kind of deeds were happening all over manchester, right through the night. i took a lady to hospital. she had actually driven to manchester from bradford. her sister was with her two children, who were all in hospital with shrapnel wounds. so, you know, god only knows what these people are feeling like. 0n the bonnet of police cars, coffee, tea, water, more. passers—by wa nted coffee, tea, water, more. passers—by wanted to show their support for the emergency services, anyway they. the offers as they are just tell me you have been buying dinner. yes, i have. we have to work as part of the team. and as well is all of the support from people that we have spoken to on the street tonight, there has been so much more on social media, on facebook, on twitter. twits like this under the hashtag rooms for manchester, offers ofa hashtag rooms for manchester, offers of a spare bed, a spare couch, copious amounts of brew and a car to ta ke copious amounts of brew and a car to take you anywhere you need to be —— tweets. the people of manchester really coming out this evening to try and do all they can to help in a cot, a horrible situation. —— in a horrible situation. you are watching breakfast from bbc news. reflecting on the news overnight there was a suspected terrorism incident in manchester at manchester arena, as ariana grande, the american singer, was performing ata the american singer, was performing at a concert. she had just ended that concert. at around 10:30pm there was an explosion. 19 people are dead, 59 are injured. we will bring you the very latest from the scene bring you the very latest from the scene with louise. we expect a press conference with greater manchester police shortly, and we will bring you that as soon as we get it. dr afshin shahi joins me now. he's a security and terrorism expert from the university of bradford. we are hearing about the scale of the investigation. it is a huge investigation at the moment. absolutely. although it is too early to have any kind of conclusive judgement about exactly what has happened last night. i have to say, the picture we have is very consistent with some other atrocities we have seen in europe and beyond over the last two or three years. first of all, the nature of violence was indiscriminate. 0ver nature of violence was indiscriminate. over the past two or three years, we had a number of similar atrocities in france, in istanbul, in belgium, which was exactly the same. targeting people ina very exactly the same. targeting people in a very indiscriminate way. secondly, the venue, it had some important symbolic properties. although, it is very early to see who was exactly behind it but i have to say, the pattern, the picture, is very consistent with some of the atrocities that was conducted with the so—called islamic state. atrocities that was conducted with the so-called islamic state. we are seeing footage from various camera phones of those who were at the concert last night. watts of children, lots of young children with their parents and other members of theirfamilies. with their parents and other members of their families. hearing with their parents and other members of theirfamilies. hearing lots of eyewitness reports. just a reminder, we are expecting what greater manchester police are calling at significant update in a few minutes. he said it was in line with other incidents we have seen across europe. for instance, the borrowing in —— bombing in paris. clearly, whoever it was who perpetrated this, it was clearly the plan. many people leaving as the concert was finished. asi leaving as the concert was finished. as i mentioned early on, they wanted to create maximum terror, maximum destruction with minimal resources. i'm not entirely sure if it is proven that it is a terrorist incident, i'm not entirely sure if we can save this was done by both. 0rganising something at this scale requires a lot of expertise. that type of explosive they used which could create that type of destruction requires are a lot of expertise. is why i suggest it early on but we don't know everything yet. it's very likely that actually that horrific incident is directly linked toa horrific incident is directly linked to a major organisation like the islamic state or even al qaeda. problem at times like this is everybody want answers straightaway. everyone makes suspicions straightaway because of what we have seen straightaway because of what we have seenin straightaway because of what we have seen in recent years straightaway because of what we have seen in recent years across straightaway because of what we have seen in recent years across europe that we do not know yet and this is why it is such a detailed investigation. thousands of hours of the various cctv footage to go and look through before they can make a definitive statement. you are absolutely right. at the same time, i have been following the social media, i looked at a number of very important platforms and organisations like the islamic state used to express their views. nobody officially has claimed responsibility. nonetheless, u nfortu nately, responsibility. nonetheless, unfortunately, a lot of people who we re unfortunately, a lot of people who were affiliated to this islamic state are celebrating last night and they are warning that they will probably be more terror incidents to come. nonetheless, this is the early hours of the investigation. i'm absolutely certain that within the next 2a hours, we will have more clear picture about what has happened and we will find out who was also behind it. thank you, for the moment. we are expecting to bring you a statement from greater manchester police in a few minutes time. what we do know, if you are just switching on your televisions, terrible news, 19 people have been confirmed dead after an explosion at manchester and arena after an ariana grande gig last night. 59 are injured and 60 ambulances took dozens injured and 60 ambulances took d oze ns of injured and 60 ambulances took dozens of casualties to hospital. steph is at the infirmary this morning and can bring us the latest. good morning. in a few hours, i have been here. it has quietened down but in the last 10— 15 minutes, there has been a lot of police at liberty. six police cars and a tactical unit which pulled in. still very much an ongoing investigation. as you say, lots of casualties. 59 who have been taken to hospitals around the city. this is one of the six. we have seen lots of relatives arriving here throughout the night, people who have been looking for their loved ones and coming to see who has been injured. we don't know exactly what injuries have been sustained by the people who are getting treatment in the hospital but we halved being told they will be a bit of a statement later on. —— we have been told. lots of people offering support. we have heard from staff who have been wanting to come in to offer their help, off—duty staff. they have been told this is a major incident so they should come in when they are asked and called to come in and they should bring in their id. as you can see, there is still a heavy police presence here as they work out what exactly happened in manchester. you will hear more from me throughout the morning. steph, thank you for the latest details from manchester royal infirmary. just to bring you up—to—date with what we know. 19 people confirmed dead, 89 people are injured, some of them are at manchester royal infirmary where steph was just now. we will bring you the latest from the scene just outside manchester arena and little later on. there has been reaction from ariana grande who was performing on stage at manchester arena last night. she said quite a simple message. she says she is broken. "from the bottom of my heart, i am so, so sorry. i don't have words." also a message from ariana grande's manager. "tonight 0ur from ariana grande's manager. "tonight our hearts are broken. work cannot express our sorrows of the victims and families harmed in this senseless attack. —— words cannot express. from all the loved ones and children taken by this cowardly act. we are painful to manchester's first responders who raced towards danger to help save lives. we are small a few to ask us make hold the victims, theirfamilies few to ask us make hold the victims, their families and all of those affected in your hearts and prayers." that is a statement from ariana grande's manager this morning. dr afshin shahi joins me now. he's a security and terrorism expert from the university of bradford. we will be hopefully hearing from the police chief who hasn't given us an update since two a.m.. it is that fight for information at this stage. people desperate to know what is going on. even though it is a net suspected terrorist attack, no group or individual has taken any responsibility for what took place. i fully understand why the police are being very cautious at the moment. this is not the time for releasing news. this is not the news for a major press conference. this isa time for a major press conference. this is a time to get their acts together and collect very vital and important information. of course, they did not say this is a terrorist incident 100%. they said it is suspected terrorist attack but when you do look at the picture, when you to look at the picture, when you to look at the picture, when you to look at exactly what happened last night, it is very consistent with some other atrocities that we have seen some other atrocities that we have seenin some other atrocities that we have seen in recent years in europe. although the police have not confirmed its 100%, am very short what happened last night, u nfortu nately, what happened last night, unfortunately, was connected to a terror organisation. —— i'm very sure. the hearing, the blast of manchester is not going to be affecting the city. "please hold the people of manchester in your prayers. this latest will not defeat us." prayers. this latest will not defeat us." more news to bring this morning from the bbc home affairs correspondent. he said," it is suspected to be the work of a suicide bomber. certainly, the man believed to have triggered the ied seems to be dead." details coming in from our bbc home affairs correspondent. you must understand, this is a moving story. there have been a number of rumours overnight but the attack in manchester overnight suspected to be the work ofa overnight suspected to be the work of a suicide bomber and certainly the man believed to have triggered the man believed to have triggered the ied seems to be dead. that is coming from our home affairs correspondent. again, these small nuggets of information which are slowly coming out. rumours overnight this may be the case and it seems to be that it is suspected to be the work of this is —— suicide bomber.|j think that is very likely. 0f course, we need to widen the lens. 0ver course, we need to widen the lens. over the last few weeks, we might have forgotten right now about what is happening in iraq. the stronghold which was occupied by the so—called islamic state in iraq is being liberated. this organisation is under a great deal of pressure at the moment. both in syria and iraq. 0ver the moment. both in syria and iraq. over the last six or seven weeks, there have been repeatedly talking about the fact there will be retaliation, there will be revenge and there will be justice. again, when we heard about the horrific incident last night, i and immediately went to social media, a look that so many platforms and twitter accounts which were affiliated to the so—called islamic state and unfortunately, a number of people affiliated to the so—called islamic state were celebrating and said actually there will be more to come in revenge of what is happening right now in mosul. if it is proven it is connected to the so—called islamic state, then we can say that as the islamic state is losing more territory, both in iraq and syria, they are resorting to more underground operations. they resort to more destructive measures that what we have seen in recent years in europe and now in manchester. thank you very much. you are watching request from bbc news. a very different programme this morning. just to bring you up to date, 19 people have died overnight, an explosion, an ex— —— suspected terrorist attack at manchester arena after an ariana grande concert. 19 have died and 59 at the moment we know to be injured. we are expecting an update from grand —— greater manchester police. we know from our bbc correspondent that the attack is suspected to be the work of a suicide bomber. we will bring you the very latest on that and be live at the scene with louise who is outside the manchester arena. but now, let's bring you the news, travel and weather where you are. good morning from bbc london news. in the wake of the suspected terrorist attack at the manchester — sadiq khan has said "london stands with manchester". metropolitan police have said there will be more officers on the streets in london today. the mayor tweeted "our thoughts are with all those killed and injured — and our brave emergency services." if confirmed as terrorism it would be the worst attack in the uk since the 7/7 london bombings nearly 12 years ago. in other news this morning, four builders had to be taken to hospital and around 50 people were evacuated — after a shop collapsed in bushey in hertfordshire yesterday afternoon. the roof of the old post office on the high street collapsed ataround 2:00. the builders were treated for minor injuries. city—living significantly increases the risk of psychotic experiences in young people — such as hearing voices and paranoia. that's according to a study of 2,000 british 18—year—olds by kings college london. it found those growing up in urban areas were a0% more likely to have had episodes of psychosis than those who lived in the countryside. as many as 30 positive leads have been discovered as a result of investigations carried out on piles of rubbish ‘fly—tipped' under the aao. buckinghamshire county council's enforcement officers having been sifting through the mass of household and building material, old cars and electrical goods to uncover the evidence — which will now be shared with the environment agency. let's have a look at the travel situation now. 0n the tubes — just some minor delays on tfl rail at the moment. if you're travelling to manchester this morning — trains from london are running as normal to manchester piccadilly — but manchester victoria station is closed once you get there. some southern and gatwick express services are disrupted after a ‘low speed collision' in the depot at battersea. no—one was injured but the depot is closed for investigations. 0n the roads — we've got the usual delays building northbound at the blackwall tunnel. and in romford — waterloo road is closed between the high street and 0ldchurch road following a stabbing last night. after a very warm day yesterday let's see what it'll be like today. here's sara thornton. hello there. a very good morning to you. we got to 25 celsius in the capital yesterday. 77 in fahrenheit. some beautiful sunsets yesterday evening captured by many of our weather watchers. some lovely sunrises this morning suggesting we are set fair for another very pleasant day. that is a little bit more in the way of cloud a bit more in the way of cloud this afternoon. it is largely fair weather cloud, the cloud we have. we will stay dry. top temperature possibly 23 in the centre of london. tomorrow morning again we start on a mild note as we go through the day. plenty of strong sunshine for you. temperatures doing better for tomorrow. 25—26 celsius, certainly not impossible. we settled as we have a nice area of high pressure. as it drifts slowly eastwards, it draws up ever warmer air. into the weekend, we are up in the mid—high 20s. possibly in the low 30s celsius. i'm back with the latest from the bbc london newsroom in half an hour. plenty more on our website at the usual address. now, though, it's back to louise. bye for now. good morning, you are watching bbc breakfast. it has just been confirmed in the last few minutes that 22 people have been killed, 59 injured, in an explosion at a concert in the city last night. we also understand that the attacker died at the scene. oh, my god. what just happened? we go straight to greater manchester police for the latest. and their loved ones. we continue to do all we can to support them, and they are being treated at eight hospitals across greater manchester. as you will appreciate, this is a fast moving investigation. we have significant resources deployed to both the investigation and the visible patrols that people will seep visible patrols that people will seep across greater visible patrols that people will seep across greater manchester as they wake up to the news of the events of last night. this will include armed officers, as people would expect, and more than a00 officers have been deployed on this operation throughout the night. to remind you, we were called at around 10:33pm to reports of an explosion at the manchester arena. this was at the conclusion of the ariana grande concert. we then received more than 2a0 calls and emergency services responded very quickly to the scene. emergency numbers have been established for anyone who is concerned for their loved ones, and may not have returned home. these numbers are 0161856 9a00, or 0161 856 9a00. we have been treating this asa 856 9a00. we have been treating this as a terrorist incident, and we believe, at this stage, the attack last night was conducted by one man. the priority is to establish whether he was acting alone, or as part of a network. the attacker, i can confirm, died at the arena. we believe the attacker was carrying an improvised explosive device, which he detonated, causing this atrocity. we would ask people not to speculate on his details or share names. this isa on his details or share names. this is a complex and wide ranging investigation. 0ur priority is to work with the national counterterrorist policing network and intelligence services to establish more details about the individual who carried out this attack. we have received tremendous support from across the police service in england and wales, our partner agencies, throughout the night. we readily carry out exercises to test our ability to respond to such incidents, and this has ensured a very swift response from local and national agencies. i wa nt to from local and national agencies. i want to thank all members of those emergency services and other agencies who have worked tirelessly throughout the night, in very difficult circumstances. their response has been quite outstanding. there remains a large caught on in place around manchester arena and the victoria train station, which will be in place for some time. the station will remain closed, while a detailed forensics search is under way —— cordon. and people should plan their route to work and follow transport the greater manchester for updates. terrorists will attempt to disrupt our lives and create distrust and fear in our communities. we have a long history here in greater manchester of our community standing together during difficult times. in the coming days we will be working very closely with community leaders to address any concerns or issues that our communities may have. it is important that we all continue to remain vigilant, but that we go about our daily lives. we would ask members of the public to be alert and report any suspicious activity to the police anti— terror hotline, the number of which is zero 800,79, three 81. as people are waking up to what is a sad day the greater manchester, the officers and staff are greater manchester police, the other emergency services and our partners, will continue to do all we can to help us get through the difficult days ahead. finally, i would like to appeal to any members of the public that may have images orfootage of of the public that may have images or footage of last night that they believe can assist in our investigations, if they could upload them to uk police image appeal .co .uk, or uk police image appeal .com, we would be very grateful. i have time for a couple of questions. can you tell us the age range of the victims, and whether or not they have all been identified? obviously at this stage i can't give that sort of level of detail, but what i can confirm is that there are children among the deceased. can you confirm whether or not there was shrapnel or nails in the ied? as i say, this is a very fast moving investigation. we are saying it was an improvised explosive device, but can't give any on that at this stage. the person responsible, can you confirm if that was a british national or not? again, ican't was a british national or not? again, i can't give any details other than that they are deceased at the scene. that's it, thank you ladies and gentlemen. that was chief constable ian hopkins from greater manchester police, just bring you the up—to—date with exactly what happened last night. if you are just exactly what happened last night. if you arejust turning on, i know many people switch on at time of the morning and you're watching brea kfast morning and you're watching breakfast from bbc news, a very different programme for you today, just reacting to what we have heard from chief constable ian hopkins, torquay about the fact that we now know that 22 people have died overnight, after a terrorist attack at the ariana grande concert at manchester arena. the explosion took place around 10:35pm last night, as people were leaving that venue. there were 59 people also injured after that attack last night in manchester. just to summarise what we are hearing that from ian hopkins, you are saying it is thought to be the work of one man. he felt that that man was acting alone, that is the latest intelligence that greater manchester police have. they feel that the man died at the scene, and he was using an improvised explosive device as well, which is in line with what our home affairs correspondent daniel sa ndford home affairs correspondent daniel sandford was telling us ten or 15 minutes ago, that this was a suspected suicide attack last night at nantes is the arena. also very sadly confirming, but she comes the ball there, that children are among those who have died —— manchester arena. he also went on to say that investigations are continuing, and you will understand there is a detailed forensics search of the entire area, and it is a very large area, around manchester arena, around victoria train station as well, which greater manchester police and antiterrorism officers will be involved in for at least the next few hours. we will bring you any more dates from greater manchester police as we get them. we are also hoping to hearfrom manchester police as we get them. we are also hoping to hear from andy burnham, the metro mayor of manchester, at some stage this morning, and we will be speaking to some eyewitnesses on the sofa in a few minutes' time. thank you very much for that, and those details from greater manchester police. extraordinary details. let me give you a sense of where this happened. i am right and of manchester. the hind me is manchester arena. i have been there, like many thousands of other people, with my children to concerts. people come from all over the north—western manchester arena, to see whoever it might be. but from scunthorpe, from birmingham, everyone comes to this place, and it is a family friendly arena as well. that is what is really striking, and we know... inaudible. sadly, as you can see, we are losing the line to the wheeze. we will try and get back to louise as soon as we we will try and get back to louise as soon as we possibly can. she is outside manchester arena, where just to confirm, 22 people are now known to confirm, 22 people are now known to have died last night, 59 injured, after a terrorist attack. police suspect it to be a suicide bomber. 0ne suspect it to be a suicide bomber. one man they say was involved. he was acting alone. he let off an improvised explosive device and greater manchester police saying to us greater manchester police saying to us in the last few moments that he died at the scene. and as louise was saying, this is a ariana grande concert, she is an american singer, she is only 23 years old. they would have been thousands of children there last night, some with their pa rents, there last night, some with their parents, others with older members of theirfamily parents, others with older members of their family as well. ian hopkins, chief constable of greater manchester police, confirmed to our reporter after that press conference a few months ago that there are children among those dead. 22 unknown to have so far. what else we know this morning is that the cobra emergency committee will be meeting at around nine a.m.. conservatives, labour, lib dems and the s&p have or confirmed that no campaigning will ta ke confirmed that no campaigning will take place today. 0ur political correspondent chris mason is in downing street. good morning to you. what more can you tell us? yes, good morning to you tell us? yes, good morning to you from downing street. we received a statement around four or five hours ago from the prime minister, a little after 2am this morning, theresa may saying we are working to establish the full details of what is being treated by the police as an appalling terrorist attacks. all our thoughts are with the families of victims of those affected. and in the last few hours or so the statement from the home secretary. this was a barbaric attack, deliberately targeting some of the most vulnerable in our society, young people, children, out at a pop concert. my thoughts and prayers go out to the families, the victims, who've been affected. and i know the whole country will share that view. i'd like to pay tribute to the emergency services who have worked throughout the night, professionally and effectively. they've done an excellent job. we have also received a statement from jeremy corbyn, the labour leader, saying he has spoken to the mayor of manchester, andy burnham, his labour colleagues. he has also spoken to the prime minister and there was an agreement from mr corbyn and mrs may that there would bea corbyn and mrs may that there would be a suspension of national campaigning in the general election until further notice. the scottish national party, which was due to publish it election manifesto in the coming hours, says that they have postponed that event, and nicola sturgeon, the first minister of scotland, saying she will convene a meeting of the scottish government's resilience committee to discuss the potential of locations for scotland. i think what we can expect, dan, is that there will be a suspension of general election campaigning of the kind that we have been used in the last couple of days for at least the next 2a, a8 hours, perhaps a little than that as well. the cobra committee meeting, the emergency contingencies resiliency is committee meeting, gathering here in downing street in the next couple of hours, we expect that will be chaired by the prime minister. there will be senior ministers, senior police officers, in all likelihood, and senior intelligence officials as well, the expectation being there will be some sort of update from the prime minister shortly after that. thank you very much this morning. let's get straight back to the scene outside manchester arena. louise is there for us this morning. apologies for the sound issues that we had. what i was trying to explain to you, andi what i was trying to explain to you, and i am not sure when i lost you, is exactly when this happened. we right at the centre of manchester. this is manchester arena you can see behind me. and we are in a situation where a large part of this city is now in lockdown. victoria station is behind us, and that obviously is inside the cordoned off area. manchester arena, i have been there many times with my children, as have many times with my children, as have many other thousands of parents from all over the north—west, they come here to watch people in this concert arena. it is a family friendly arena, and it is a really efficient, well organised place. but extraordinary, horrific events there last night. we now know that 22 people have died. 59 people injured. and so many of them were injured, as far as we understand, after the explosion went off in the foyer of the arena. so many parents may have been standing there waiting for their children to come out. i want to speak to somebody who was there last night, who canjoin me now. thank you for coming to join me on bbc breakfast. it is good to see you this morning, as you were right there last night. having a conversation with somebody, waiting for your daughter to come out. yes, wife and daughter went to the concert, we bought the tickets at christmas, as most people in they would have got their kids to get to christmas. where you come out, near the station. i walked up, and near the station. i walked up, and near the station. i walked up, and near the station there is a concourse with a box office and then the merchandise fella. and there are about 20 white doors. you show your ticket and go in there and i was talking to one of the staff on the door. and she had the door open to the concert hall. yes, she had the door open. when the explosion went off, i think if the door had been closed i would have been one of them. but we got blown through the door. and you were blown, 30 feet? i don't know how far it went, but i got thrown quite a bit. my ears pimped, got thrown quite a bit. my ears popped, the noise was horrendous, the floor shook. and when i got up there were just bodies everywhere. so the first thing i done, i ran into the stadium, and everyone was getting evacuated the other way. i couldn't see my anywhere. no signal, nothing. so ijust phoned my mother and brother and said the train to ring them, and i went back. i had to start looking at people who were lying on the floor, seriously, in case it was my family. as i said earlier, it has come out this morning now, buti earlier, it has come out this morning now, but i felt at that time it was 20 to 30 fatally injured. and your daughter and your wife were 0k, weren't they? they were still inside? yes, they managed to get out the other way but my wife said there was just kids stood there who didn't know what to do. 0bviously of their pa rents were know what to do. 0bviously of their parents were waiting for them to come out and they couldn't get out that way, they wouldn't know what to do. and you talk to me a little bit about trying to help people, as well. yes, the emergency crews turned up quick but a lot of them we re turned up quick but a lot of them were not sure what to do, because they probably not seen anything like that. and then they started to get merchandise and putting them on people's wounds, and things like that. 0nce people's wounds, and things like that. once i got a phone call to save my wife and daughter were waiting for me, i had to go. thank you very much. i'm glad you 0k waiting for me, i had to go. thank you very much. i'm glad you ok this morning. picking up with pat carney. a devastating thing to happen here. absolute pure evil visiting our city last night. it struck me about it was all the teenagers left the arena, how young they were. 0bviously, arena, how young they were. obviously, you can imagine them going in earlier run excited about a p0p going in earlier run excited about a pop star, an innocent night out. all our thoughts are with the family members who have lost sons and daughters. manchester will go through various phases on this. we will go through the grief, go through the tears and then the spirit of manchester as the values of manchester will take us to the other side. e.g. very much indeed. —— thank you. we are just on the edge of what is a complete lockdown in the city and i imagine it will be locked down like this for many hours to come. louise, thank you very much. 22 people we know confirmed dead last night at an explosion at the ariana grande concert. 59 injured around various hospitals. we will bring you the very latest from the scene. bring you the very latest from the scene. hopefully from the metro mayor andy burnham as well. powerful eyewitness reports. we arejoined by these people who were all there at these people who were all there at the concert last night. some people arejust turning this the concert last night. some people are just turning this on a television set is morning. she performed and had come to the end of her concert. what happened? performed and had come to the end of her concert. what happened ?m happened literally after the concert, the light switched on and within two seconds, we heard an explosion and we thought, like, somebody just explosion and we thought, like, somebodyjust dropped heavy equipment. we didn't really think too much about it. but then there was a pandemonium of people, screaming and running for their lives. we knew what had happened. we we re lives. we knew what had happened. we were just lives. we knew what had happened. we werejust in lives. we knew what had happened. we were just in shock. 0ur lives. we knew what had happened. we were just in shock. our only goal was to leave. whether any announcements? richard lee, everybody just started to announcements? richard lee, everybodyjust started to run. —— we re everybodyjust started to run. —— were there any announcements. —— literally. the staff just told were there any announcements. —— literally. the staffjust told us to leave. everybody took initiative to just run. the scene outside was absolutely chaotic. there was a crying mother on the phone at not knowing where her little daughter isn't so many people crying on the phone. it wasjust isn't so many people crying on the phone. it was just horrendous. literally, just still processing it. it is absolutely awful. literally, just still processing it. it is absolutely awfullj literally, just still processing it. it is absolutely awful. i appreciate you coming in this morning to talk to us. i understand you are still in shock. ciaran, what is going through your mind? self—preservation is one thing that you are also wondering what's actually happening. leigh at first i thought it could have been some heavy equipment. —— at first i thought. you don't expect to see people run across running in blood and that's when we realised our priority was to get out. we just ran to the other station, manchester piccadilly, just get in out of there. we just didn't want to be there. we just didn't want to be there any more. it's ok. scarlet is here as well. scarlet, from uranium perspective, —— from your perspective, —— from your perspective, parents rushing in and desperately trying to make phone calls. where were you in all of this? i was right out the front. i was with my friend when i heard the massive explosion. at first i didn't think it was anything. i seen this little girl crying with her mum and i was wondering why she was crying. we just thought something had dropped and then i looked at the back of the arena and there were thousands of people and itjust com pletely thousands of people and itjust completely split down the middle, something like a horrorfilm. that's when i started panicking. i had lost my friend, i couldn't find her. she was on the floor and people were standing over her to try to get through the emergency exit. the staff were just saying, "calm down, calm down." people werejumping off to try and get out. so people were jumping down onto the floor to try and get themselves free. yes because nobody knew what was going on. my friend thought she was going to die. i was thinking that i wasn't going to get heard, to be honest. thankfully, you are all here safely with us this morning. wejust thankfully, you are all here safely with us this morning. we just had the update from the greater manchester police that some of those children have been killed. i know it must be so hard you to process this morning. i literally can't father met. i was in the taxi this morning. ——a literally can't fathom it. 22 people killed. the fact that happened pretty much near where we we re happened pretty much near where we were sitting because we were sacked in the upper tier on the left—hand side —— we were sat. i don't know where it came from, the middle left. i'm still processing it myself. where it came from, the middle left. i'm still processing it myselflj really i'm still processing it myself.” really admire you for coming in this morning and talking with such honesty because there is all sorts of people that can come out and say, we will fight back" wan and continue that at a time like this, to be involved in something like that... —— we will fight back and we will continue. we have got to say a big thank you to the people that actually went in to risk their lives such as the emergency services. i just think it's terrible and i think eve ryo ne just think it's terrible and i think everyone in times like this, we need more peace, i think. everyone in times like this, we need more peace, ithink. everyonejust needs to you stand united and stick together. it's. .. it's needs to you stand united and stick together. it's... it's good to hear, i guess. what's happened... it seems like a bad dream. is interesting what you say. there has been lots of food handed out and people offering lifts and rooms are people that can't get home. really appreciate you coming in this morning in talking to us. thank you for telling us talking to us. thank you for telling us your story and telling it so powerfully. they are reacting to the news we are bringing you this morning of a suspected suicide attack at an ariana grande concert last night at manchester arena. we note that 22 people have died, 59 injured after that explosion at around 1030 last night. kieran and kalendra and scarlett were there. we have heard from ian hopkins confirming that one man was involved, he was acting alone, he set upa involved, he was acting alone, he set up a suicide explosive device and there were children among those 22 who have died at the arena. there isa number 22 who have died at the arena. there is a number if you are worried about family friends and if you think you might have some information for police, it is 0161856 9a00. we will bring you the very latest on is this morning. we will be live at the scene with the wheeze outside manchester —— with louise. for many of us, i dry day ahead. not quite as warm as yesterday but nonetheless, still looking into the high 20s. high—pressure will dominate. at times more cloudy in the west. as it drifts eastwards, later in the week, we will lose the cloudy, murky conditions we currently have in the west. this morning, a lot of cloud for southwest england and wales. some coastal mist and hill fog. it is extending down to hampshire and the isle of wight. down into kent and east anglia, we are looking at sunshine. and the earlier missed starting to lift in northern ireland. for the far north of scotland, we have a weather front producing some rain. that will fade as we go through the day. some of the cloud through the day across the midlands and parts of hampshire will fade that there will be a lot left behind. we will see some more murky conditions pouring through the bristol channel and cardigan bay. north of that, a lot of sunshine. breezy with a few showers across western scotland. it could also affect northern ireland. the top temperature today 22. in london yesterday it was 25. as we head through the evening and overnight, a lot of dry weather. 0ur showers gather speed and will be sporadic. across the north of scotland, we will seek as well some sea fog developing lapping onto the channel islands and eastern coastal counties. as we can see from the temperatures, though, it won't be a cold night. tomorrow, some dry weather with sunshine around. at times around scotland and northern ireland, low cloud. it will be chased back to the coast by the breeze which will brighten up. temperatures again 18— 26. the temperatures are slowly again on the up. high—pressure will be drifting over towards the east and what you will find as well is it will start to drag in the mild or warmer continental air at cross our shores. for many of us as we head through friday, we will have a bridge is widely in the mid— high 20s. we could hit even possibly 32. it will turn that bit warmer that it won't stay that way. when we head into the bank with a weekend, some of us, it will be uncertain. we will bring you the very latest on the attack in manchester which we so far no have killed 22 people and 59 injured. we live at the scene outside manchester arena after we pick up the news, travel and weather where you are this morning. good morning from bbc london news. in the wake of the suspected terrorist attack at the manchester — in which 22 people have been killed. metropolitan police have said there will be more officers on the streets in london today. sadiq khan has said "london stands with manchester". the mayor tweeted "our thoughts are with all those killed and injured — and our brave emergency services." if confirmed as terrorism it would be the worst attack in the uk since the 7/7 london bombings nearly 12 years ago. in other news this morning, four builders had to be taken to hospital and around 50 people were evacuated — after a shop collapsed in bushey in hertfordshire yesterday afternoon. the roof of the old post office on the high street collapsed ataround 2:00. the builders were treated for minor injuries. city—living significantly increases the risk of psychotic experiences in young people — such as hearing voices and paranoia. that's according to a study of 2,000 british 18—year—olds by kings college london. it found those growing up in urban areas were a0% more likely to have had episodes of psychosis than those who lived in the countryside. as many as 30 positive leads have been discovered as a result of investigations carried out on piles of rubbish ‘fly—tipped' under the aao. buckinghamshire county council's enforcement officers having been sifting through the mass of household and building material, old cars and electrical goods to uncover the evidence — which will now be shared with the environment agency. let's have a look at the travel situation now. 0n the tubes — just some minor delays on tfl rail at the moment. if you're travelling to manchester this morning — trains from london are running as normal to manchester piccadilly — but manchester victoria station is closed once you get there. some southern and gatwick express services are disrupted after a ‘low speed collision' in the depot at battersea. no—one was injured but the depot is closed for investigations. 0n the roads — we've got the usual delays building northbound at the blackwall tunnel. and in romford — waterloo road is closed between the high street and 0ldchurch road following a stabbing last night. after a very warm day yesterday let's see what it'll be like today. here's sara thornton. hello there. a very good morning to you. we got to 25 celsius in the capital yesterday. 77 in fahrenheit. some beautiful sunsets yesterday evening captured by many of our weather watchers. some lovely sunrises this morning suggesting we are set fair for another very pleasant day. perhaps more in the way of cloud, perhaps not up to 25. it is largely fair weather cloud, the cloud we have. we will stay dry. top temperature possibly 22—23 in the centre of london. tomorrow morning again we start on a mild note as we go through the day. plenty of strong sunshine for you. temperatures doing better for tomorrow. 25—26 celsius, certainly not impossible. we're settled as we have a nice area of high pressure. as it drifts slowly eastwards, it draws up ever warmer air. into the weekend, we are up in the mid—high 20s. possibly in the low 30s celsius. i'm back with the latest from the bbc london newsroom in half an hour. now, though, it's back to louise in manchester. bye for now. hello, very good morning to you. you are watching bbc breakfast and we of course have a different programme here today because we are dealing with that news overnight about events here in manchester. it has been confirmed in the last half an hour that 22 people have been killed. 59 injured, and there were children amongst those killed last night, after an explosion went off in manchester arena at the end of the concert. we are getting details all the time. we understand that a00 officers... inaudible. we have been treating this as a terrorist incident, and we believe, at this stage, the attack last night was conducted by one man. the priority is to establish whether he was acting alone or as part of a network. the attacker, i can confirm, died at the arena. we believe the attacker was carrying an improvised explosive device, which he detonated, causing this atrocity. we would ask people not to speculate on his details, or share names. this is a complex and wide—ranging investigation. 0ur priority is to work with the national counterterrorist policing network and intelligence services to establish more details about the individual who carried out this attack. and it is very much an ongoing investigation, as you would understand. these events only happen in the last few hours and i want to show you where this happened. we are right in the centre of manchester, this is the manchester arena, and the whole area is now a crime scene. above us, and if you can't hear me entirely clearly it is because there isa entirely clearly it is because there is a police helicopter above us. it has been out here since the early hours of this morning. as part of the city is very much in lockdown. victoria station, which was used as triage after so many people injured in those events last night is right in the centre there. so very many people not able to use that station this morning. let's speak to our correspondent colin paterson, who has spent the night in manchester city centre. you, like me, have been too many concerts there. it was very much a young audience, wasn't it? ariana grande very much appeals to a teenager and even younger than teenager and even younger than teenage audience, there were lots of eight —year—olds and nine —year—olds there. many wearing ariana grande t—shirts and her trademark honeyeaters. and we were seeing people separated from their parents, who had arrived waiting to pick up their kids. the very place the explosion went off was the foyer, and the explosion was happening between parents and their children. which isjust between parents and their children. which is just terrifying to hear, and we did here desperate stories last night of parents looking for children, children looking for their friends. absolutely, there are still many stories on social media of people saying has anyone seen this kid, and also inspiring stories, stories of acts of avery, cpr being performed by people on strangers next to them at the arena. and as i was standing at the cordon, people we re was standing at the cordon, people were offering to drive people back to liverpool, for free. were offering to drive people back to liverpool, forfree. many people's hotels were behind the cordon and they couldn't go back to where they were staying. and this is very much a family friendly event centre, isn't it? it is the second biggest concert centre in europe. take that are supposed to play the first of three nights tomorrow, i will be surprised if that happens, and ariana grande is supposed to play at the 02. i will be surprised if that happens as well. and it gives a sense of the geography as you can see those steps and railings. we have heard stories about people terrified, running out, almost standing on each other as they tried to get out of the arena. at 10:35pm last night those were the steps that people were flooding down to try and get away from the arena. people were told to run as fast as they could, to get away from the arena at that time. and so many families separated, and people did not know where their loved ones were. and eyewitnesses have been telling us the emergency services we re telling us the emergency services were their extraordinarily quickly. extremely quickly, and people in the arena kicked into gear as well. i was told last night of how the ta bles was told last night of how the tables inside the arena were being taken out and used as stretches to transport people to one of the eight hospitals around manchester which became emergency a&e units for people and also today they have set up people and also today they have set up special blood units are the people of manchester can give blood to people injured in the attacks. and we know they're a people being treated in those hospitals right now. as you are saying, we have had extraordinary stories of bravery, as well, of the sheer terror when people were trying to get out of the arena. a little bit earlier i spoke to one of those parents, because lots of pa rents to one of those parents, because lots of parents had gone to that foyer because that is where they we re foyer because that is where they were going to meet their teenage children as they came out of the concert. 0ne children as they came out of the concert. one of those waiting i spoke to a little bit earlier. i don't know how far it went, but i got thrown quite a bit. my ears popped, the noise was horrendous, the floor shook. and when i got up there were just bodies everywhere. so the first thing i done, iran into the stadium, and everyone was getting evacuated the other way. i couldn't see my family anywhere. no signal, nothing. so ijust phoned my mum and brother and said the train to ring them, and i went back. i had to start looking at people who were lying on the floor, seriously hurt, in case it was my family. and we know that andy, like many people in the arena last night, when to try and help give first aid to those people. we understand of course this is very much an ongoing investigation. the police have called a complex and wide ranging, and really giving us quite a lot of detail about what happens, although they are not naming the attacker and they are not naming the attacker and they are not naming the attacker and they are asking people not to speculate on that either. we understand that the attacker, as the police have said, died in the arena. we will of course be talking to people here throughout the morning, the more eyewitnesses as well, and of course the city trying to wake up and get back to work this morning as so and get back to work this morning as so many people are coming to this cordon, and at the moment this part of the city is very much in lockdown. thank you very much for the latest outside manchester arena, where if you are just turning on your television there was a suspected suicide bomb last night which so far has killed 22 people, some of those children, and 59 injured this morning as well. we we re injured this morning as well. we were hearing from chris mason, our political correspondent, that there will be an emergency the cobra committee at 9am this morning and outside downing street flag is a high, flying at half mast and they will need to discuss what happened last night at manchester and unsurprisingly all general election campaigning activities, the snp were due to announce their manifesto today, all that has been suspended, as chris mason was telling us, for at least 2a hours as people continue to react to the news coming from manchester last night, that explosionjust manchester last night, that explosion just after the ariana grande concert at the manchester arena which has killed 22 people, and 59 we know to be injured. let's bring you a bit more reaction. we have heard from greater manchester police this morning, ian hopkins there. the mayor of greater manchester, and the leader of the city council gave us this statement just a few moments ago. after our darkest of nights, manchester is today waking up to the most difficult of dons. it is hard to believe what has happened here in the last few hours, and to put into words the shock, anger and hurt that we field today. these were children and young people and their families, that those responsible chose to terrorise and killed. this was an evil act. 0urfirst terrorise and killed. this was an evil act. our first thoughts are with the families of those killed and injured, and we will do whatever we can to support them. we are grieving today, but we are strong. today, it will be business as usual in ourgreat today, it will be business as usual in our great city. i want to thank the hundreds of police, fire and ambulance staff who worked through the night in the most difficult circumstances imaginable. we have had messages of support from cities around the country and across the world, and we thank them for that. but lastly, i want to thank the people of manchester. even in the minutes after the attack, they opened their doors to strangers and drove them away from danger. they gave the best possible immediate response to those who seek to divide us. response to those who seek to divide us. and it will be that spirit of manchester that will prevail and hold us together. manchester has had some dark days in the past. i don't think i can think of anything that matches the horror of what happened la st matches the horror of what happened last night. as andy has said, our thoughts are with the families and friends of the victims, of those people who are still in hospital, in some cases fighting for their lives. and as a city, we will have to take some time to grieve. but in what we believed to have been a terrorist attack, we have to ensure that terrorism never wins. so yes, business as usual as far as possible today, manchester people going around their everyday business. communities coming together. we will not allow this to divide us, just as we have not allowed events in the past to divide us. as citizens of manchester demonstrated last night, when they came out to give support to people, whatever their needs work, this city will pull together, and we will make sure that we will demonstrate that defiance, and the city will go on from strength to strength. a dark day, yes, but something that manchester in its own unique way it will make sure that we turn into a strength for us as a city by working together. thank you. the leader of the manchester city council and andy burnham, the mayor of manchester, speaking a few moments ago, saying it is hard to believe what happened. andy burnham saying they are trying as best they can to be business as usual in manchester today, as much as possible, he said. and support for the families, many of those fighting for their lives. we know 22 people so for their lives. we know 22 people so far have died and 59 are injured and being treated in various hospitals around manchester. we were speaking to step outside manchester's royal infirmary earlier in the programme. we will bring you more detail as we get it. we have had response overnight from ariana grande, who was actually performing on stage, and she had just finished her set, she came off stage, we were hearing from eyewitnesses the lights had just gone on at manchester arena, and those we were speaking to on the sofa were saying they thought originally it might be some heavy machinery that had fallen. that was the noise, but then people started running, as you can see from this eyewitness footage, out from the arena. ariana grande said she has broken from the bottom of my heart. iam so, broken from the bottom of my heart. i am so, so sorry, she says. i don't have words. she isjust i am so, so sorry, she says. i don't have words. she is just 23 years old. we are hearing she is due to be performing later on this weekend london. it remains to be seen whether that will continue. but her concert last night, packed with thousands of children, some with their parents, some with older members of their family as well, and we are hearing from chief constable ian hopkins that there are children among those 22 we know to have died so among those 22 we know to have died so far. let's get a bit more reaction to that police investigation, exactly where it goes from here. we arejoined by dr afshin shahi. would remove by greater manchester police from their statement —— what we know. they say it is one man and they were trying to ascertain whether he was acting alone. he said an improvised explosive device and they believe he died at the arena. they are asking people not to speculate what organisation he might be from. it is consistent with some of the other attacks we have seen across europe? even before the police confirmed it, that the atrocity was conducted by a suicide bomber, it was very clear, the picture we had was absolutely consistent with some of the other atrocities that we have seen in europe over the last two or three yea rs. europe over the last two or three years. the nature of the violence was absolutely indiscriminate and at the same time, the venue which was chosen for this atrocity also had some symbolic properties for them. of course, some people are speculating that this was probably done by a lone wolf. i very much doubt that. making these kinds of explosives and complex suicide vests requires a lot of expertise, requires a lot of expertise, requires a lot of expertise, requires a lot of resources. we still don't have a full picture but i assume that this man was connected toa i assume that this man was connected to a major terrorist organisation. we see pictures of the 60 ambulances that attended manchester arena yesterday, try to take them off to various hospitals are around manchester. a huge operation. antiterrorism police now involved as well. ian hopkins was telling us there is a massive search area right around manchester arena. a big train station, manchester victoria, around the corner. a big cordon. we know you have seen social media chat and so you have seen social media chat and so far interestingly, no group or individual has taken responsibility for what we saw? since last night, i have been closely monitoring social media platforms which are unofficially or officially affiliated to the so—called islamic state. as you set correctly, nobody has officially claimed responsibility for the atrocity last night. nonetheless, a lot of supporters of the organisation, a lot of affiliates, have been celebrating all—night and they have been warning about the fact that more incidents are about to happen. not only in the uk but other parts of europe. we have to remember the so—called islamic state has been under a great deal of pressure. this has not been in the news over the last few weeks but the city of mosul which was the most important stronghold for the islamic state is about to be completely liberated. inevitably, that is going to create a condition that may create more underground activities which have some serious security implications. natoli for the countries in the middle east but in europe as well —— not only. i know many of you are having your breakfast and getting ready to take your kids to school. we have terrible news. 22 people have died in manchester overnight after a suspected terror attack outside the manchester arena after an ariana grande concert. we will bring you the latest and be live on the scene with lolita is outside the manchester arena. just to also say the cobra committee will be meeting this morning with theresa may and cabinet members. at a roundabout and 9am, all general election campaigning has been suspended for at least 2a hours. as the whole country tries to come to terms with what we are seeing this morning as we are waking up. the 22 people that have died overnight in manchester. you are watching breakfast from bbc news. find out what is happening with the weather. this morning it is a mild start to the day. for many of us, it will also be at dry one. it will feel warm. not quite as warm as yesterday that nonetheless, to bridges getting up that nonetheless, to bridges getting up into the high—teens, low 20s. high—pressure continues to dominate. —— temperatures. as the high—pressure drifts to the east, it drags in hot airfor the high—pressure drifts to the east, it drags in hot air for the weekend. what we have is a bit of clout, missed and murk. we have sunshine across the east and the north of the country with one or two showers floating in the far north—west of scotland. those will continue on and off through the afternoon. the cloud will also continue through south wales, south—west england that increasingly, we will see some coastal mist lapping onshore around the coastal channel and cardigan bay. as a go through the afternoon, a bit more fair weather cloud should develop but it should say drive—through england and wales. a bit of sunshine through northern england. through northern ireland, brush or sunny spells and away from the showers in scotland, again, a lot of dry weather. —— dry or sunny spells. into the evening and overnight, there will still be clear skies. there will still be some coastal murk out the west. increasingly, we will see some sea fog across the english channel, affecting the channel islands and it will lap onshore across southern counties of england. equally, some sporadic, showery outbreaks of rain across the far west of scotland but as you can see from the temperatures, it won't be called. tomorrow, we start off with the sea fog in the english channel. some of it still prone to lab onshore at the far south of england but a lot of dry weather around. brighter conditions across parts of england and wales but times, their bit of low cloud across western scotland and northern ireland. temperature wise, we are looking at 20— 25, roughly. under the reign in the northern isles, it will be suitably learnt —— considerably lower. temperatures will continue to rise on thursday. some fair weather cloud will bubble up and we are seeing temperatures getting back up into the 26. the cowl widely we are looking at double figures by the time we get to thursday —— look how widely. we have high—pressure anchored out into the sea on friday. it is triggering temperatures from the mid to the high 20s. down in the south of england and particularly the south—east, 30, 31 and possibly even 32 but it's not necessarily going to last. now let's go back and join blue in manchester. —— joined lou. thank you, carol. it is very different today because we are talking about the event here in manchester last night. we know that 22 people died, 59 injured in that explosion which happened just behind where i am standing now in the manchester arena, right in the centre of manchester. we have been speaking to eyewitnesses all morning and they want to introduce you to sebastian and kieran. we travelled from newcastle yesterday afternoon. we canjust from newcastle yesterday afternoon. we can just for the concert, really. i know you are planning to go home today obviously be we are not because we are standing right outside the police caught on and your hotel is in there. —— police cordon. did you think it was an explosion when you heard the noise? when you first heard it, it does go through your mind but we thought it might have been a speaker going off. possibly balloons but it was too loud to be at the louvre. i did think it was a gunshot or an explosion —— to be a balloon. think it was a gunshot or an explosion -- to be a balloon. we heard about the momentary silence in the arena as well. wheeler it was like all of a sudden used year there bang. i personally recall hearing another bang and then chaos, screaming, running, everything. what did you try and do? i was trying to go back inside but sebastian was saying that we need to get out because if it was some kind of hostage situation than we would be stuck inside. we literally ran into the stampede from the exit. stuck inside. we literally ran into the stampede from the exitm stuck inside. we literally ran into the stampede from the exit. it is frightening because we had to go back into the chaos. we told everybody that they needed to get out. you just think, disbelief. when we got out, people were pushing down the stairs. girls crying, a father carrying his daughter who was crying. lots of teenagers were there like you. i go to a lot of concerts and it's just really sad. ariana grande is an incredible artist. have people been looking after you? grande is an incredible artist. have people been looking after you ?m has come together quite well. hotels have come together to help people who have lost their families or had nowhere to go. 0ur belongings are in a hotel that has been cordoned off. we are waiting for families to come and get us and we will see where it goes. there is no word on whether it is getting uncordoned. we both just didn't expect it. it's a surreal. we have had no sleep. nothing feels real. thank you forjoining us. your mum and dad are picking you up later. thanks for joining mum and dad are picking you up later. thanks forjoining us on bbc brea kfast. later. thanks forjoining us on bbc breakfast. two of the many thousands of people who were inside the arena when that explosion went off. we are hearing extraordinary stories this morning of those who helped people, of real bravery and of course the sheer terror when people realised what had gone on and when they try to get out. again, stories of the whole city of manchester pulling together and helping people like those two young lads who haven't had any where to stay last night. these are the facts we know. the explosion went off after 1030 last night inside the arena. police confirmed 22 people have died and 59 have been injured. they have confirmed as well this morning that children were amongst the dead. we also understand they are calling it a suicide aipac and that the attacker died in the arena. ——a suicide attacker. right now, let's go to the news, the travel and the weather wherever you are watching us this morning. see you ina are watching us this morning. see you in a few minutes. good morning from bbc london news. in the wake of the suspected terrorist attack at the manchester — in which 22 people have been killed. metropolitan police have said there will be more officers on the streets in london today. sadiq khan has said "london stands with manchester". and "our thoughts are with all those killed and injured — and our brave emergency services." if confirmed as terrorism it would be the worst attack in the uk since the 7/7 london bombings nearly 12 years ago. ariana grande, the american singer who had just finished her show at the packed manchester arena when he explosion took place is it due to perform in london on thursday and friday. authorities will let people know as soon as they can if the shows will go ahead. in other news this morning, four builders had to be taken to hospital and around 50 people were evacuated — after a shop collapsed in bushey in hertfordshire yesterday afternoon. the roof of the old post office on the high street collapsed ataround 2:00. the builders were treated for minor injuries. as many as 30 positive leads have been discovered as a result of investigations carried out on piles of rubbish ‘fly—tipped' under the aao. buckinghamshire county council's enforcement officers having been sifting through the mass of household and building material, old cars and electrical goods to uncover the evidence — which will now be shared with the environment agency. let's have a look at the travel situation now. a good service on all tube lines at the moment. if you're travelling to manchester this morning — trains from london are running as normal to manchester piccadilly — but manchester victoria station is closed once you get there. some southern and gatwick express services are disrupted after a ‘low speed collision' in the depot at battersea. no—one was injured but the depot is closed for investigations. 0n the roads — in victoria: you can see roads around the coach station are closed. that's because of a suspect package. and in romford — waterloo road is closed between the high street and 0ldchurch road following a stabbing last night. after a very warm day yesterday let's see what it'll be like today. here's sara thornton. hello there. a very good morning to you. we got to 25 celsius in the capital yesterday. 77 in fahrenheit. some beautiful sunsets yesterday evening captured by many of our weather watchers. some lovely sunrises this morning suggesting we are set fair for another very pleasant day. perhaps more in the way of cloud, perhaps not up to 25. it is largely fair weather cloud, the cloud we have. we will stay dry. top temperature possibly 22—23 in the centre of london. tomorrow morning again we start on a mild note as we go through the day. plenty of strong sunshine for you. temperatures doing better for tomorrow. 25—26 celsius, certainly not impossible. we're settled as we have a nice area of high pressure. as it drifts slowly eastwards towards the end of the week, it draws up ever warmer air. into the weekend, we are up in the mid—high 20s. possibly in the low 30s celsius. i'm back with the latest from the bbc london newsroom in half an hour. plenty more on our website at the usual address. now, though, it's back to louise in manchester. bye for now. good morning. you are watching bbc breakfast. i'm in manchester. the headlines. 22 people have been killed and 59 injured in what police are calling a suicide attack at a concert in manchester city centre. 0h manchester city centre. oh my god. what's going on? crowds fled in panic from the manchester arena after an explosion at the end of a performance by the singer, ariana grande. a loud bang was heard and witnesses reported the smell of burning. screaming, shouting, a mad chaotic rush to the nearest exit. something really hot flew over us and landed behind me and my mum and my sister and we all like dropped to the floor. the concert was attended by thousands of teenagers. police say children are among the fatalities. this has been the most horrific incident that we have ever faced here the most horrific incident that we have everfaced here in the most horrific incident that we have ever faced here in greater manchester and one that we all hoped we would never see. families and many young people were out to enjoy a concert at the manchester arena and have very sadly lost their lives. in the next hour, the prime minister will chair a meeting of the government's emergency cobra committee. in downing street this morning, flags are flying at half—mast. good morning. it's tuesday, 23rd may. the news we're waking up to this morning, an explosion at a concert venue in manchester packed full of children and families, has claimed the lives of 22 people. thousands were at the manchester arena to see the american singer ariana grande, when an explosion was reported at around 10.30pm. witnesses said she had just finished her performance when it happened. british transport police said the explosion was in the venue's foyer. shortly after the blast, manchester victoria station, which is close to the concert venue, was closed and all trains cancelled. in the last hour, greater manchester police issued a new statement, saying 22 people had been killed and 59 injured. those of you that have been to the manchester arena will know that it is right in the heart of the city centre. and that is where louise is for us this morning. good morning to you once again louise. yes, dan. i want to give you a bit of the geography and explain to people where this happened. this is right in the city centre. in is the manchester arena behind me and you can see the steps in the distance past the crane where hundreds, thousands of people were running down the steps yesterday in fear of their lives after this explosion went off in the foyer. we also know, of course, that there is a station right there as well, victoria station, that was used as triage for the many victims of last night's attack. and this is very much an on going situation, on going investigation. in the last few minutes another half dozen or so police officers arrived and you can hear above me the police helicopter which has been circling since i have been here this morning. very much an on going investigation and the police have said in the last hour or so, they have called it a suicide attack. let's get the very latest from greg dawson. oh, my god. what just happened ? this is the moment a concert arena filled with young people transformed into a scene of confusion and panic. in the chaos, thousands of people immediately scrambled for the exit. i was like, we need to run. so we started running, we ran straight out the doors, all the way down to the hotel, and all i could hear was screaming, people crying, everyone was just running everywhere. it was complete madness. police say they believe the explosion happened in the foyer of the arena, and they are treating it as a terrorist attack. this has been the most horrific incident we have faced in greater manchester and one we all hoped we would never see. families and young people were out to enjoy a concert at the manchester arena and very sadly lost their lives. the manchester arena has a capacity of 18,000 for concerts. last night it was filled with young people and police say a number of children are among the dead. i was near the box office on the foyer where it happened waiting for my family to come out. i was talking to one of the girls who was going on about she was going away with the kids and that. i was talking about florida and that. 0nly that. i was talking about florida and that. only for her talking to me and that. only for her talking to me and having the door open, i think, i would have been injured and because she had the door open we got thrown forward through the door towards the arena, but the explosion was behind us, it forced us forward, but eve ryo ne us, it forced us forward, but everyone who was ten foot, 15 foot behind us, everyone of them got injured. at least 60 ambulances were sent to the venue with the injured taken to eight hospitals. paramedics say many injured were treated for shrapnel. ariana grande tweeted, "broken from the bottom of my heart. i'm so, so sorry. i don't have words." the singer wasn't hurt. when she walked off stage, she left behind a venue filled with euphoria. just moments later, it was transformed into a scene with multiple deaths. you can see more and more police officers arriving. we know that there are a00 officers deployed overnight and eight hospitals trying to help all the many people who have been injured. 59 people were injured. iwant been injured. 59 people were injured. i want to bring you up—to—date with events so far with ed thomas. he has been here all night. we have heard a lot more details, haven't we, about what happened and where it happened? yes, we think this happened in the foyer of the manchester arena. this is a place where people come after the concert. hundreds would have been in there, thousands streaming out. it's a place where people stop and get their scarves and t—shirts and police told us it was a lone person with an improvised explosive device, he set it off, surrounded by children, mothers and fathers just as this concert finished. the details are that there are children amongst those who have been killed and in some ways the bomb was placed, wasn't it, between some children and teenagers and their pa rents ? children and teenagers and their parents? we saw that confusion within hours of this last night. children were walking around and trying to get hold of desperate pa rents. trying to get hold of desperate parents. i saw a father with a ten and 12—year—old daughter, he was just asking people for directions. but we saw something else last night, a stranger walked up to him and said, "look, i'm nota night, a stranger walked up to him and said, "look, i'm not a taxi driver, but tell me where you need to go and i'll take you." we saw that again and again, strangers handing out bottles of water to the people who were just looking for any information to get home. we're going to leave it there. the helicopter, there is many people here and we're having problems with the sound. ed, thank you. thank you, ed and louise. we're having difficulty listening to what you were exactly saying there. we will be back with louise shortly where you can see a huge cordon around manchester arena and the station which is around the corner from manchester arena where there we re from manchester arena where there were thousands of people last night. the main news this morning, a different bbc breakfast for you because last night there was a suspected suicide attack outside an ariana grande concert in manchester where louise is this morning and 22 people have been confirmed to have died and 59 are injured and are being treated at various hospitals around the greater manchester area. we've heard that the prime minister will be holding a meeting of the cobra committee at 9am this morning. the latest that we heard from greater manchester police, the chief co nsta ble greater manchester police, the chief constable ian hopkins was speaking at 7am, he was saying they were trying to find out whether this one man was acting alone. that he had set off an improvised explosive device and they believed he did die at the scene and he again reiterated that there were 22 people who died in this attack. just in the foyer of the manchester arena last night as they were leaving the ariana grande concert and there were children among those 22 dead. we'll bring you more detail from the police as we get it and also today we have been hearing from the mayor of greater manchester, andy burnham and also the leader of manchester city council who gave us this statement in the past hour or so. after our darkest of nights, manchester is today waking up to the most difficult of dawns. it is hard to believe what has happened here in the last few hours and to put into words the shock, anger and hurt that we feel today. these were children, young people and their families that those responsible, chose to terrorise and kill. this was an evil act. our first thoughts are with the families of those killed and injured and we'll do whatever we can to support them. we are grieving today, but we are strong. today, it will be business as usual, as far as possible, in our great city. these were children, young people and their families i want to thank the hundreds of police, fire and ambulance staff who worked through the night in the most difficult circumstances imaginable. we have had messages of support from cities around the country and across the world and we thank them for that. but lastly, i want to thank the people of manchester. even in the minutes after the attack, they opened their doors to strangers and drove them away from danger. they gave the best possible, immediate response to those who seek to divide us. and it will be that spirit of manchester that will prevail and hold us together. manchester has had some dark days in the past. i don't think i can think of anything that matches the horror of what happened last night. as andy said, our thoughts are with the families and friends of the victims of those people who are still in hospital, in some cases, fighting for their lives. and, as a city, we will have to take some time to grieve. but, in what we believe to have been a terrorist attack, we have to ensure that terrorism never wins. so, yes, business as usual as far as possible today, manchester people going around their everyday business. communities coming together, we will not allow this to divide us, just as we have not allowed events in the past to divide us and as citizens of manchester demonstrated last night, when they came out to give support to people whatever their needs were, this city will pull together and we'll make sure we will demonstrate that defiance and the city will go from strength to strength. a dark day, yes, but something that manchester, in its own unique way, will make sure we turn into a strength for us as a city by working together. thank you. that was the leader of manchester city council and before that, you heard from the metro mayor, andy burnham. many people were offering food and drink to the emergency services and lifts home to those caught up in the incident. here is more on that from jane ma cubben. there was the shock. there will be grief. but there has also been humanity, from people like ian, who heard the news and had to leave their beds. i have just come down here to see if anyone needed a lift home, if they were stranded. like these two. we live around the corner, and we wanted to see if anyone needed someone to sit with while waiting for a taxi. dave told me he drove into the city to offer free fares. these kind of deeds were happening all over manchester, right through the night. i took a lady to hospital. she'd actually driven to manchester from bradford. her sister was with her two children, who were all in hospital with shrapnel wounds. so, you know, god only knows what these people are feeling like. 0n the bonnet of police cars, coffee, tea, water, more. passers—by wanted to show their support for the emergency services, any way they can. the officers there just tell me you have been buying dinner. yes, i have. we have to work as part of the team. and as well as all of the support from people that we've spoken to on the street tonight, there has been so much more on social media, on facebook, on twitter. tweets like this, under the hashtag #roomsformanchester, it offers of a spare bed, a spare couch, copious amounts of brew, and a car to take you anywhere you need to be. the people of manchester have really come out this evening to try and do all they can to help, in a horrible situation. jane was talking about social media. these are modern events are advertised and people react. there isa advertised and people react. there is a lot of fake news out there this morning, there is some horrendous rumours about people making up they have lost members of their family to try and get re—tweets. if you are involved in that, stop it because it isa involved in that, stop it because it is a serious incident and people are desperate to find out about their families and loved ones. there were 60 ambulances at the scene yesterday and they took dozens of casualties to hospital. steph mcgovern is at the manchester royal in the. is there any more news from there this morning? good morning, this is one of the eight hospitals where the 59 casualties have been taken to around the city. there has been a lot of coming and going this morning. it was quiet for a while, and then about 7am lots of police cars swept in with their lights and sirens on. also staff arriving this morning and a lot of wondering what they will be facing, an unprecedented scene probably for a lot of them inside the hospital. you have the blood supply is coming in to make sure eve ryo ne supply is coming in to make sure everyone in this major incident eve ryo ne everyone in this major incident everyone in this major incident everyone in this major incident everyone in this hospital is facing has the right facilities to help treat people. we don't know how many people are at this hospital but we are told it won't be long until one of the directors will come out and talk to us about what is going on. we have seen relatives here, looking for people. there was a young 17—year—old girl in the early hours who came here in search of her mum. she found her mum's boyfriend inside the hospital who was being treated, but was unable to find her mum and was looking round different hospitals in order to find her. but lots of people pulling together. you are talking about the difference people and jane mccubbin was talking about the way people were helping and staff who were not on duty have come in to try and work extra shifts. but have been told to just await until they are told to come in. there is still a lot of police here, so important to have id. but we will bring you some updates here as we get them. that is the latest from manchester royal infirmary. steph was saying, we have to remember the care and kindness people were showing in the aftermath of that attack which has claimed the lives of 22 people and injured 59. we will get the latest from louise at the manchester arena and we have been hearing loads of eyewitness accou nts been hearing loads of eyewitness accounts about the fact that ariana grande is 23 herself. thousands of people at manchester arena last night and many of them would have been children. somewhere their pa rents, been children. somewhere their parents, some with older members of theirfamily parents, some with older members of their family and some on their own as well. this added to the concern and pandemonium as some witnesses explained it as they were leaving after the terrorist incident took place last night at around 10:30 p.m.. we can speak ann—marie was there last night with her daughter. thank you for talking to others. explain where you were in the arena and what you heard and what happened after that? ok, good morning. we we re after that? ok, good morning. we were seated from about six rows from the front. the concert ran over a little as ariana grande came on to sing one final song. as the lights went on and people started to gather their things, and returned to the left to go out, to go up the stairs from the auditorium, there was an absolutely almighty bang, explosion, to which the building did shudder. and basically, it was... erm, a surreal situation, a gust came above us surreal situation, a gust came above us and it was like smog above us. and then absolute hysteria. children running back down the stairs. 0ne particular area to the left—hand side, completely evacuated. and just everybody running to the opposite side and knocking people over, locking young children over. then, the security were very, very in a state of shock, were not giving any form of advice. 0ne state of shock, were not giving any form of advice. one of the management team came onto the stage and asked everybody to try and remain calm. a number of minutes passed and we were then told to leave in a calm and kind of walking order, rather than anybody pushing. lots of girls on their own. i managed to keep a group of four girls together and calm them down and escort them outside. anne-marie, we are hearing lots of stories about what you are describing, children on their own. date of the people who go and watch and listen to ariana grande. you were there with your daughter. please feel free to ask me to go away if it is a difficult question, but what do you say to your 13—year—old daughter after last night, what did you say to her at the time? she obviously was very scared. i told the time? she obviously was very scared. itold her tojust the time? she obviously was very scared. i told her tojust remain calm, we didn't know what was happening. people were dropping to the floor because they didn't know whether it was a gunmen. she was trying to go underneath a chair. i said, just because, you are with your mum and everything is fine. i told her to walk quietly, held her hands, reassured her we were going to be fine and safe. and when we got back to the car, she just obviously broke down. anne-marie, thank you for sharing your story. if you are able to answer one more question. i know this is an emotional time and as we have been speaking to other eyewitnesses, you are still in shock andi eyewitnesses, you are still in shock and i am sure the viewers appreciate you giving this information because i think it is important, can you give is detail on what it was like leaving the arena because we are hearing accounts of lots of parents, you are with your daughter, but not pa rents you are with your daughter, but not parents outside collecting their children and they were running in trying to find their kids. lots of people on the phone trying to locate loved ones and thousands of people running out of the arena through the wide open doors as well, so it must have been chaos? absolute chaos. what crossed my mind, as i was waiting, i thought, what crossed my mind, as i was waiting, ithought, we what crossed my mind, as i was waiting, i thought, we could walk out of this building and there could be another bomb. i was trying to keep the girls calm and explain to them, they are checking outside, don't worry, they are checking outside and we will be able to go. i felt at the time, the safest place was to be stood where we were. we came outside, it was utter chaos. security, obviously had their hands full. to be fair to the emergency services, they were trying their utmost to deal with the situation, but it was just carnage. it was an awful situation to be in. ijust felt helpless, very scared and very helpless, that i couldn't help in any other way, but the advice was to get away from the area as fast as possible and that is what we did. all i can say is, if ariana hadn't have done a final song and it was a matter of minutes over what her finishing time should have been, i believe that more people would have beenin believe that more people would have been in the foyer... anne-marie, thank you very much. i know it is difficult for you to talk about this andi difficult for you to talk about this and i am sure you are doing what many parents are doing this morning, giving their children a cuddle and telling them everything is ok. that was anne—marie and her daughter, tha nkfully was anne—marie and her daughter, thankfully they are safe, but 22 people did not make it home. 22 people did not make it home. 22 people died last night at the concert and 59 are injured after the terrorist attack last night in manchester. a bomb went off at around 10:30pm. ian hopkins, chief co nsta ble around 10:30pm. ian hopkins, chief constable said they believe it was one man and they are trying to ascertain as to whether he acted alone. they believe he set off an improvised device in the foyer of the manchester arena and they believe he died at the arena. they had said there were children amongst the 22 who have died. if you want information, there is a helpline on the screen. please give it a call. but also, the police are saying, don't call it if it is just a general question, this is an important number for those who may be seeking a loved one. it is... we will be outside the arena with louise with the latest. it is a very different bbc breakfast this morning. but now we can bring you the weather with carol. todayis today is going to be dry across the uk. not as warm as it was yesterday but temperatures in the low 20s. as high—pressure drifts over to the north sea it will drag in much warmerair north sea it will drag in much warmer air from north sea it will drag in much warmer airfrom the near north sea it will drag in much warmer air from the near continent by the end of the week. this morning we have cloud across wales, south—west england and murky conditions with hill fog and coastal fog. a bit more cloud across the midlands, towards the isle of wight and into the south east. the south east seeing sunshine, as is northern england and much of scotland and northern ireland. in the afternoon we will hang on to the murky conditions across the south west and wales. more coastal mist and fog will come in onshore around bristol and cardigan bay. some of the cloud will melt across parts of the midlands but fairweather cloud will bubble up but still and pleasant afternoon with temperatures possibly getting as getting as high as 23. the north wales, northern and much of scotland, sunny spells, a few showers coming into the west as they go through the day. and the rain across the northern isles will fade. 0vernight, this rain, showery outbreaks of rain will be sporadic as it moves across northern scotland. we will also have sea fog develop across the english channel, affecting part of the channel islands and some southern and coastal counties of england. as you can see from the temperatures, it will not be a cold night. generally we are all in double figures. that is tomorrow, with this coastal fog coming in from the english channel. some of it will wax and wane so we will see it move into the in this channel through the day. but a lot of dry weather. temperatures responding, between 20 and 25, possibly 26 but rain heading towards the northern isles. by the time we get to thursday, more of the same. if anything, it will be brighter towards the west. a different wind direction by them. a cloudy start across north—western scotland and northern ireland. you will find that will push back to the coast and it will push back to the coast and it will brighten up behind it. temperatures by thursday, up to 26, possibly a little bit higher. then the friday and saturday, all this warm and hot air coming from the near co nsta nt warm and hot air coming from the near constant will push right the way across our shores. generally speaking, we will be looking at temperatures across the uk roughly the mid to the high 20s. in parts of the mid to the high 20s. in parts of the south, south east, there could be 30, 31 or even 32. so it is going to be very warm or hot depending on where you are this weekend. we will have more weather over the course of the programme but it is a different bbc breakfast this morning, reflecting on events in manchester last night when 22 people we re manchester last night when 22 people were killed in a terrorist attack outside and ariana grande concert. 59 people injured. lots of statements, we have heard from the police, the mayor of manchester and the leader of manchester city council. i want to read one statement from the president of the european commission jean—claude juncker. some wise words this morning. you might be struggling about what is said to your children, but this is whatjean—claudejuncker has said. it was with great sadness and profound shock i heard of the brutal attack that struck manchester. it breaks my heart to think once again, terrorism has sought to instil fear, think once again, terrorism has sought to instilfear, where think once again, terrorism has sought to instil fear, where there should bejoy sought to instil fear, where there should be joy and young people should be joy and young people should be joy and young people should be coming together in celebration. i would like to convey my deepest sympathies to the prime minister and the british people. today, we mourn with you. tomorrow we will work side—by—side with you to fight back against those who seek to fight back against those who seek to destroy our way of life. they underestimate hours and your resilience. these cowardly attacks will only strengthen our commitment to work together to defeat the perpetrators of such vile acts. those words from the european commission president, jean—claude juncker this morning. louise is outside manchester arena. but now the news, travel and weather where you are watching. good morning from bbc london news. in the wake of suicide bomber in manchester last night in which 22 people were killed, the metropolitan police have said there will be more officers on the streets in london today. the mayor has also tweeted saying london stands with manchester and our thoughts are with those killed and injured. ariana grande, the american pop star who had just finished her show at the packed manchester arena when the explosion took place is due to perform at the 02 arena in greenwich on thursday and friday. the arena says it will let ticket holders know as soon as possible whether the shows will go ahead and in the meantime enhanced security is in place for all events. four builders had to be taken to hospital and around 50 people evacuated after a shop collapsed in hertfordshire yesterday afternoon. the roof of the old post office on the high street fell in at 2pm. the builders were treated for minor injuries. as many as 30 positive leads have been discovered as a result of investigations carried out on piles of rubbish fly—tipped under the aao. buckinghamshire conte council staff have been sifting through the material to uncover the evidence. a look at the travel situation now. on the tubes there is a good service, but there are delays on tfl rail at the moment. if you're travelling to manchester this morning, trains from london are running as normal to manchester piccadilliment some southern and gatwick express services are disrupted after a low speed collision in the depot at battersea. no one was injured, but the depot is closed for investigations. 0n the roads, in victoria, roads around the coach station have now reopened after an early suspect package there. police say it's not suspicious. and in romford waterloo road is closed between the high street and old church road following a stabbing last night. well, let's see if the weather is as nice today as it was yesterday. we got to 25 celsius in the capital yesterday. 77 in fahrenheit. some beautiful sunsets yesterday evening captured by many weather watchers and love will you sunrises this morning suggesting we are set fair for another pleasant day, but perhaps a little more in the way of cloud. not quite 25 celsius today, but still warm and it will be dry. it's a nice and mild start this morning. perhaps and mild start this morning. perhaps a little bit more in the way of cloud through this afternoon. it is fair—weather cloudment we will stay dry. top temperature 22 celsius possibly 23 celsius in the centre of londonment tomorrow morning, again we start on a mild note as we go through the day. plenty of strong sunshine for you. the temperatures doing better tomorrow. 25 celsius, 26 celsius. certainly not impossible. we're settled because we've got an area of high pressure across us. we've got an area of high pressure across us. as it drifts eastwards it draws up warmerair. across us. as it drifts eastwards it draws up warmer air. yes, into the weekend, the last part of the week we're weekend, the last part of the week weekend, the last part of the week we're up in the mid to high 20s and possibly in the low 30 celsius. i'll be back in half an hour. it is back to louise in manchester. good morning to you. you are watching bbc breakfast and i'm sure many of you will know already the headlines this morning, but let me remind you if i can. 22 people have died after an explosion at the manchester arena, right in the heart of the city centre here. 59 people injured. police talking about an attacker who died at the scene. they have called it a suicide attack. let's get the latest from greater manchester police. we have been treating this as a terrorist incident and we believe at this stage the attack last night was conducted by one man. the priority is to establish whether he was acting alone or as part of a network. the attacker i can confirm died at the arena. we believe the attacker was carrying an improvised explosive device which he detonated causing this atrocity. we would ask people not to speculate on his details or share names. this is a complex and wide ranging investigation. 0ur priority is to work with the national counter terrorist policing network and uk intelligence services to establish more details about the individual who carried out this attack. more details about the individual who carried out this attackm more details about the individual who carried out this attack. it is very much, of course, an on going investigation and i'm just in front of the cordon and you can see behind me the arena itself. we know that a00 officers deployed overnight. they are, of course, not letting people back in here at the moment, but manchester is a vibrant city and what's really heartening actually is just behind the camera, behind where you can't see at the moment i can see streams of people, clearly on their way to work. this may have happened last night and at only 10.30pm, but people are determined to get back to normal and ikedz them going on their way to work. this is the front page of the manchester evening news and many pictures and stories of heroism and people fleeing in panic, but also helping other people on the way. i want to speak to one person. grace is here with me. grace good morning to you. you were in the arena at the time. yeah. what i had did you see, what did you hear? we heard a big bang and lots of screaming and somebody shouted, "bomb and get down. there was loads of screaming and people rushing out to get out of the arena. children terrified. it was horrible. and children separated from their pa rents and children separated from their parents as well. i know that you have got to try and get home today. there is so many young people in the city last night, they travelled from all over the uk and not knowing where they were and they had to get their hotels or to a safe place? yeah, this is ourfirst time in manchester and we had no idea where we we re manchester and we had no idea where we were going. we just ended manchester and we had no idea where we were going. wejust ended up following the crowds and just to get as far away as possible. we did end up as far away as possible. we did end up having to ask the police a couple of times how to get to our hotel which was only five minutes away, but we had to walk the long way around to get to it because everywhere was blocked off. you're going to try and get home later. thank you very much. i'll let you go that way. colin you have been here, our entertainment correspondent from the early hours of this morning. it was distressing to see those young children, teenagers and parents looking for them? real scenes of confusion. the stairs up there 10.30pm last night, they will filled with people just fleeing from the arena trying to get away from that explosion and on the streets, you would see kids trying to find pa rents. would see kids trying to find parents. parents trying to find kids. people coming back from hospital, but you got the heart warming stories. as i was standing there, a taxi pulled up, "would you like a lift? i'll take you anywhere." there was stories of people coming on to the streets of manchester to offer their spare rooms because people were not able to get back to their hotels and i think what's so important to get across is how young that audience was last night and ariana grande a tt ra cts was last night and ariana grande attracts a crowd from seven to 2a is probably her fanbase so it was so young and so many parents had deposited their children a the concert and were there waiting to collect them when the explosion happened and the explosion was keeping them from getting to their children. which is clearly a terrifying situation for so many people to be in. just talk a little bit about the arena. i have been there many times with my own children and people have travelled from all over the north—west and different parts of the uk to come here? ariana grande's tour was not going any further north than manchester. lots of people i spoke to last night were scots. there was people from aberdeen and glasgow and edinburgh as well. so this was a crowd of people who had come from all over the uk. this arena is the second biggest indoor concert arena in europe. take that are supposed to be playing tomorrow night. very much doubt that gig will be going ahead. ariana grande's tour is supposed to be continuing in london tomorrow night at the 02, i doubt that will happen. messages starting to come in. taylor swift saying my thoughts and prayers and tears for the people affected by the manchester tragedy. harry styles says he's heartbroken and katie perry broken hearted for the families tonight. thank you very much, indeed. colin. it sends an eerie sense of quiet. it is such a busy city and there is this cordon around the area and it's strangely quiet. manchester arena is joined to victoria station and because of the station it is completely shut this morning so many people who would be coming to work in manchester cannot get there, but i have had messages from my friends saying they are determined to go to work today saying they will not let this stop them getting to work. it is a strong and vibrant city? yeah, i've lived here for five years now and this is by far the darkest incident that has happened, but the ira bomb in 1996, the city recovered from that and it will recover from this. colin, thank you very much indeed. i'm going to leave you with that thought really. there are, of course, people arriving, trying to get through the cordon, we have spoken to a couple of people who can't get home because their car is still parked underneath or right next to the manchester arena. there are people who cannot get back to their hotel rooms because of the cordon. we very much understand this is of course, an on going investigation. dan, what is really heartening to see is to look down the street inaudible and people are just making their way to work as they would every single day despite what happened here just after 10.30pm last night. studio: apologies for the poor quality of our line, i suppose, is the best way to describing to manchester arena. there is huge police activity and we are trying to use a radio frequency which probably lots of people are on and that's why we're getting the break up in what louise was saying. people are trying to get on with their normal lives as best they can and andy burnham the metro mayor of manchester was saying it is that attempt to try and get back to business as usual even though you know it's not as usual, but you're trying your best to move on and those words echoed by the leader of manchester city council. in terms of politics, normally at this point in the morning you're complaining about our coverage of the general election, but that's been suspended entirely for at least 2a hours because the conservatives, the labour party, snp, who were due to release their manifesto today and the liberal democrats have all confirmed that today's campaigning for the general election has been com pletely for the general election has been completely suspended. theresa may will be meeting and will chair the government's emergency committee, cobra. let's get more on that and the rest of the goings on today at westminster. chris mason is outside downing street. and chris, normally at this point we're talking about ma nifestos, at this point we're talking about manifestos, about promises, but everything today, understandably suspended and thoughts and prayers are with events in manchester right across the political spectrum ? absolutely, dan. there was a statement from the prime minister released after 2am this morning in which she said that she was working to establish full details of what we have since learnt from greater manchester police describing it as an appalling terrorist attack and saying all her thoughts were with the victims and the families of those affected. as you say, the cobra committee will gather here in downing street in the next 15 minutes or so. we have seen the home secretary, amber rudd arriving in the street in the last ten or 15 minutes. further senior cabinet ministers and police officers no doubt and intelligence officials also expected to join that meeting and politicians across the political divide reflecting on what has happened. we can bring you the thoughts of the chancellor, philip hammond. i've woken up this morning to the terrible news of this barbaric attack in manchester. it is it isa it is it is a terrorist incident and my thoughts are with the victims and their families and the people of manchester and i would like to pay tribute to the emergency services who have done a greatjob throughout the night and are continuing to work at the scene. the government's emergency committee, cobra, will be meeting in the next hour or so and i shall attend the meeting now and return to london at lunch time. thank you. the labour leaderjeremy corbyn has issued a statement in which he says that he has spoken directly to the prime minister and mrs may and mr corbyn agreed that national campaigning in the general election would be suspended untilfurther notice. we have seen similar state m e nts notice. we have seen similar statements from all of the other political parties as well. the snp we re political parties as well. the snp were due to be publishing their election manifesto in the next couple of hours, but they say that that has been postponed. instead the first minister of scotland, nicola sturgeon, the snp leader, saying that she will convene a meeting of the scottish government's resilience committee to examine any potential implications for scotland. to recap, the committee meeting is due it get under way of the cobra committee here in downing street in the next 15 minutes or so. we then expect to hear directly from the prime minister. in fact some of the speakers and the necessary equipment for that speech is being set—up in the street. so potentially hearing from the prime minister within the next hour or so. of course, the timings are fluid, given we don't know how long the meeting will last, but there will be a statement from the prime minister relatively soon. chris mason, thank you very much for that latest update. i know regular viewers will know we are off at 9:15am there will be on the bbc news channel and the website. some people are turning on their televisions all the time. we are reflecting a very different bbc brea kfast. are reflecting a very different bbc breakfast. louise isn't on the so for, she is outside the manchester arena this morning were overnight there was a terrorist attack after a ariana grande concert. 22 people we know are confirmed to have died. 59 are injured. those are the latest figures from greater manchester police. they believe it was one man and they are trying to ascertain whether he was acting alone. they believe he died at the scene after exploding an improvised explosive device. they have also said there we re device. they have also said there were children among those 22 who are dead. the london mayor say police are reviewing security in london and there will be more police on the streets. that is what he has said on social media this morning. and we understand ariana grande, who was supposed to be performing in london, has suspended her world tour. more news on that throughout the day. we have heard from a number of eyewitnesses who have been explaining what it was like. we were hearing ariana grande finished her concert, she came back on stage, did another song and then the lights went up. it was at that point a large noise was heard. others thought it was machinery dropping but then others thought it could have been an explosion. let's speak to another eyewitness. kaitlin was at the concert with her 11—year—old sister rebeka. she joins us now on the phone. thank you for your time on bbc brea kfast. thank you for your time on bbc breakfast. i know it is an emotional subject and if you feel the need to stop at any point, then please do so. stop at any point, then please do so. but tell us what it was like from your perspective. where were you and what did you hear what happened? i was with my sister rebecca and we walked into the foyer, just to find the main doors to get out of the arena. all of a sudden there was a big boom and eve ryo ne sudden there was a big boom and everyone just fell to the floor. people'sears were ringing. ijust stood up as fast as i could, grabbed my sister and everyone was just trying to get out as fast as they could. people were getting stored on on the way out. there was blood on the floor. it was horrific. at that moment, the good news is you were with your young sister rebecca and able to get her out. but there were pa rents able to get her out. but there were parents outside trying to get hold of children inside the arena and people running in all different directions and there was real confusion. understandably, there was chaos last night? the majority of the audience were younger children and mums. as soon the audience were younger children and mums. as soon as the audience were younger children and mums. as soon as he went through with the main doors you knew how many parents were waiting for their kids, they looked terrified and confused. i don't expect you to say exactly what you said, but what was rebecca's reaction? did she understand what was going on? have you been able to talk to her about it, is she ok this morning? she hasn't really slept, had only about 20 minutes or half an hour. she knew what it was immediately, an explosion or a bomb. then she grabbed my hand and just wanted to get out as soon as possible. what are your thoughts, kaitlin, this morning when you had 22 people have died and 59 are at various hospitals across greater manchester. we have also been hearing there was the rush to get out of the arena, but also stories of kindness and compassion and people offering lifts handing out food to the emergency services, i wonder how you reflect on that this morning? it is dreadful, literally a chance of us turning left and walking straight into it or turning right, as we did. there were so turning right, as we did. there were so many taxi drivers outside offering people lives. peoplejust trying to find families, it was terrible. thank you so much for talking to us this morning kaitlin. glad to hear you are ok and your sister rebecca. thank you for your time telling us what you saw last night at the ariana grande concert at manchester arena. so kaitlin, telling us her account this morning. greater manchester police would like you to share any information with them. the number to ring, not only for information, but any questions about loved ones are people you want to get in contact with, it is on the screen... greater manchester police saying the importance of making sure people are sharing a lot of information on social media, making sure it is accurate. i know we talk about this on regular occasions, there has been a lot of fake news and people are s ha m efu lly a lot of fake news and people are shamefully talking about made up relatives they are missing from last night in searches for re—tweets on social media and things like that. at times like this, you see the good side of social media, but also the negative side, so be aware of what is out there and what you are trying to find information on people they cannot contact from last night. we will bring you the latest and we will bring you the latest and we will be back with louise later, but now carol has the weather. the forecast today is mainly dry and it will feel warm. likely to be 23 and high pressure is very much across us. and high pressure is very much across us. whether front moving across us. whether front moving across the north of the area of high pressure will bring showers and eventually the high pressure ends in the north sea dragging in warm air for the weekend. we have a lot of cloud across wales, south—west england, the midlands, down towards hampshire and the al of wide. murky conditions and we're looking at some sunshine. into the afternoon, you will find there will be a bit of cloud across parts of wales and south—west england, in addition we will have coastal mist and fog around the bristol channel and cardigan bay. as we drift further east in the midlands, some of the cloud will be breaking up and in kent and east anglia, fairweather clad bubbling up. but temperatures easily 21, up to 23. north wales and northern inman, a lot of sunshine. sunny spells across northern ireland and sunshine across scotland. the exception is in the west weather will be showery ad breaks of rain, rain across the northern isles from earlier tending to fade. do the course of this evening and overnight, showery outbreaks of rain will continue across northern scotland. not all of us will see them. fog across the english channel across the southern counties of england and the channel islands. in between there will be clear skies and cloud out towards the west. anyway you look at it, it will not bea anyway you look at it, it will not be a cold night. we start off with the rain across scotland, showery outbreaks towards the northern isles. this sea fog not too far from eastern coastal counties and also the channel islands. but in between dry and fine weather. tomorrow across western scotland and northern ireland, there will be more cloud but we will see it break up through the course of the day and temperatures rising again. on thursday, more of the same. a lot of sunshine around. fairweather cloud developing and for scotland and northern ireland we will stop with the cloudy picture but with the wind it will push that back towards the coast. highs of up to 26. it is as we head into friday and saturday with high—pressure all the warm air rotating around the north sea, pushing across the uk. generally speaking, across most of the uk we will be looking at temperatures by then, from the mid to the high 20s. if you are in the south—east, it is more likely we will see 30, possibly 31 or 32. so things once again are warming up. we have a special, very different bbc breakfast. i think we will be on till about 9:30am to bring you the latest about what happened in manchester overnight where we note 22 people are confirmed to have died after a terrorist attack at a ariana grande concert at the manchester arena. 59 people are injured and there is an ongoing anti—terrorism investigation. the huge area being searched by anti—terrorism police and manchester police. louise is outside the manchester arena and we will speak to an expert in international relations to find out how that investigation might be developing. no individual, no group has accepted responsibility. but we will bring you the latest and any more news in a few minutes. after the travel, weather and the rest of the travel, weather and the rest of the news wherever you are watching brea kfast the news wherever you are watching breakfast this morning. in the wake of the suicide bombing in manchester last night the metropolitan police have confirmed there will be more officers on the streets in london. the mayor has treated saying london stands with manchester and our thoughts are with those killed and injured. ariana grande, the american pop star who had just finished her show at the packed manchester arena when the explosion took place, is due to perform at the o2 arena in greenwich on thursday and friday. on its website, the o2 on thursday and friday. on its website, the 02 has said it will let ticket holders know as soon as possible whether those shows will go ahead. in the meantime, enhance security is in place. a look at the travel situation. a good service on the tubes but there is the les on tefl rail at the moment. gatwick services are disrupted this morning after a low speed collision at the depot in battersea. long delays around the age 12 which has been closed westbound into newbury park because ofa westbound into newbury park because of a crash. in romford, waterloo road is closed between the high street and old church road following the stabbing last night. the weather, cloud at times but another dry day with sunny spells, feeling warm with a top temperature of 22 degrees. that is it, i will be back with the lunchtime news at 1:30pm but now it is back to louise in manchester. very good morning, welcome back to bbc breakfast and thanks for watching us this morning on what has been a very different programme, of course dominated with the event that happened here last night. we note 22 people died, 59 people injured, when police say an attacker, they are calling it a suicide attack within the manchester arena. they have referred to this device as an improvised explosive device. they said the attacker died at the arena. what is striking is, i have been here since 6am with bbc breakfast and this is a city which has been struck at the heart of the city, but that will not stop people. i am standing here and you can see behind me, so standing here and you can see behind me, so many standing here and you can see behind me, so many people on their way to work as they would be on any other day in manchester. this fabulous, vibrant city. they are having to walk around. we will speak to some people in a minute, but over there, in the distance, the area is cordoned off. it is a large area cordoned off. it is a large area cordoned off. it is a large area cordoned off and people having to make long journeys to work, mostly on theirfeet in make long journeys to work, mostly on their feet in order to get back to normal as much as they can. so many people in that arena last night. thank you forjoining us, i know you are trying to get home, tell us about what you heard when you were in the arena? it was a big explosion. we stopped and it went quiet for a few seconds. and there was mass panic, people screaming and running forward trying to find an exit. then it calmed down, people are saying some chairs had collapsed at the back and that is what we thought it was, until we got outside when there was mass hysteria. people crying, screaming. people covered in blood. people screaming because they couldn't find their children. one woman was hysterical. it was horrible. i can totally understand. you were there as well, what do you make of what happened last night, when you heard the noise, where you scared? yes, at first i thought it was a balloon because she had balloons, but it was too loud. everyone screams, and then they ran andl everyone screams, and then they ran and i were shocked and upset. ariana grande has said she feels broken, which you can understand.” grande has said she feels broken, which you can understand. i feel really bad for her. you made your way out of the arena are you trying to get home? we lost our bearings and we did know where we were. we went to the front of the hotel and the man said, you are best coming in and we ended up staying there all night. we came back here about six o'clock this morning to the hotel where we were staying, molly's dad is there, and he had been waiting all night. that is it, it'sjust... so you didn't even stay in your hotel, people were looking after you? yes, they brought us cults, pillows, they put chips, free drinks and they looked after us. they got a taxi for us this morning. they offered breakfast as well. what really strikes me, it is a family—friendly venue and it is really organised and it was a very young audience? yeah, it was. there was a lot of molly's age and above and below her age as well. i can't bear thinking about it to be honest. thank you very much indeed. a safe journey home. thank you very much indeed forjoining us. that isjust a story that is sort of echoed amongst so many people here this morning. it seems this city, there we re morning. it seems this city, there were so many young morning. it seems this city, there were so many young people, children lost, separated from their parents, not knowing this city as well. if you know the manchester arena people come from all over the uk to see their favourite bands and artists there. so there are people who are unfamiliar with this city suddenly in this really terrifying situation. we know 22 people diedment we know there are children amongst those who have died and 59 injured and are being treated in hospitals across greater manchester and a massive police operation last night. a00 officers overnight and they are describing this investigation as complex and wide ranging. of course, more details will come out during the day, but what is really striking standing here this morning and having been here in a city that i know really well, i have been living here for five years or working with bbc breakfast, it is a fantastically vibrant and wonderful city and it's wonderful to stand here and see people making their way to work as they would on any other day despite what happened in the heart of the city last night. studio: louise, thank you from outside manchester arena. louise echoing what we were hearing from the metro mayor, andy burnham, saying as hard as it can be, he was trying to convince the people of manchester city to get back to business as usual, even though it doesn't feel usual and it doesn't feel possible. saying it was hard to believe what had happened and sir richard leese, the leader of manchester city council saying thoughts and prayers with the families of those, whot only those who have died, but those who were injured as well and he reminded us there are still many in hospitals across manchester, 59 injured, some of those are fighting for their lives at the moment as well. it's a very different version of bbc brea kfast. very different version of bbc breakfast. it is 9.02am. you think we are going to be on until 9.30am. there was an explosion at a concert venuein there was an explosion at a concert venue in manchester packed full of children and families. it claimed the lives of 22 people. thousands we re the lives of 22 people. thousands were at the manchester arena to see the american singer ariana grande and that explosion at that concert was reported at around about 10.30pm last night. witnesses said she had just finished her performance when it happened. british transport police said the explosion was in the foyer of the manchester arena. shortly after the blast, manchester victoria station which isjust around the corner from the manchester arena was closed and all the trains from there were cancelled and that's inside that cordon this morning. earlier on in the programme greater manchester police issued a new statement saying 22 people had been killed and as we are saying 59 injured as greg dawson reports. 0h oh my god. what's going on. what just happened? this is the moment a concert arena filled with young people transformed into a scene of con financial institution and panic. in the chaos, thousands of people immediately scrambled for the exits. i was like we need to run. so we started running. we ran straight out the doors down to the hotel and all i could hear was screaming and people crying. everyone was just running everywhere. it was complete madness. police now believe the attack was carried out by one man, who detonated an improvised explosive device that he was car yvenlgt it's believed he died in the blast. this has been the most horrific incident we have ever faced in greater manchester. and one that we all hoped we would never see. families and many young people were out to enjoy a concert at the manchester arena and have very sadly lost their lives. the manchester arena has a capacity of 18,000 for concerts, last night, it was filled with young people. police say a number of children are among the dead. i was near the box office on the foyer where it happened waiting for my family to come out and i was talking to one the girls who was going on about she is going away with the kids and that, i was talking about florida and that. only for her talking to me and having the door opened i think i would have been injured. because she had the door opened, we got thrown forward through the door towards the arena, but the explosion was behind us, it forced us forward, but everyone who was ten foot, 15 foot behind us, eve ryo ne was ten foot, 15 foot behind us, everyone of them got injured. at least 60 ambulances were isn't to the haven't u, with the injured taken to eight hospitals across the city, paramedics say many were treated for shrapnel like injuries. hours later, ariana grande tweeted the words, "broken from the bottom of my heart. i am so, so sorry. i don't have words." the singer want hurt in the incident. when she walked off stage, she left behind a venue filled with euphoria, just moments later, it was transformed into a scene of multiple deaths. ariana grande was on stage and finished at 10.30pm. she came back on and did an extra song and because of that, there were fewer people in the foyer when the bomb went off and because she stayed on stage longer and actually was later than planned that may have saved the lives of many people who would have been packed in that foyer at the manchester arena last night. we know that theresa may will chair a meeting of the government's emergency committee later this morning and police are treating this asa morning and police are treating this as a terrorist incident. we're joined by a security and terrorism expert and senior lecturer in international politics as well and international politics as well and international relations at the university of bradford. good morning to you once again. good morning. i know you have been following this throughout the night. it is within of those investigations, people are desperate for information at the moment. the police are giving precious few details out. what we know, to remind people who have been joining us for the first time, they are saying it was one man. they are trying to discern part of their investigation is whether he was acting alone and he set off this improvised device and they believe he died at the scene in the arena and the other thing that the chief co nsta ble and the other thing that the chief constable ian hopkins was saying is there are children among the dead, 22 dead and 59 we know to be injured. i know we can't say with certainty at the moment, but it seems it is in line with some of those other attacks that we have seen across those other attacks that we have seen across europe? i understand why the police is being cautious at the moment. so they are a little bit, you know, hesitant to release information and that's correct, but when you do look at the picture, when you do look at the picture, when you do look at the picture, when you look at what we already know, it's consistent with some other atrocities that we have seen in europe and beyond over the last two or three years. the nature of violence was absolutely indiscriminate, the suicide bomber wa nted indiscriminate, the suicide bomber wanted to create the maximum destruction and maximum terror and at the same time the venue, which was chosen, without any doubt, had some symbolic properties. after all it was in a way representing a lifestyle that maybe this individual, which is probably con cted with an organisation, had some issue. of course, overthe cted with an organisation, had some issue. of course, over the last six or seven hours some people have been k or seven hours some people have been spk lating about the fact that maybe he was a lone wolf, but i very much doubt it, although we don't have the full picture yet, but i very much doubt a single man could actually organise and plan such a sophisticated atrocity because basically creating that type of explosives requires a lot of resources and of course, a lot of expertise. just looking at the time. we're not 12 hours away yet from when the incident first took place, in terms of previous terrorist attacks, what stage is responsibility normally taken. is there a set timing? would you have expected somebody to say or a group to say, "this was us." by this stage? unfortunately we don't have an existing pattern. i mean sometimes islamic state claims responsibility right away. sometimes you know, it takes a bit of time, but again, we're not 100% sure if this atrocity, you know, is or was con cted to islamic state, but as i mentioned, when we look a the wider picture, when we look at what has been happening in europe, in places like france, germany and belgium and istanbul, it looks very much like a kind of isis operation. i have been following social media primarily twitter accounts and facebook accou nts twitter accounts and facebook accounts affiliated to the islamic state over the last six or seven hours. so far nobody has claimed any responsibility, but at the same time, a lot of people who are con cted to the organisation, a lot of twitter accounts that are affiliated primarily to the islamic state have been celebrating the news and in fa ct been celebrating the news and in fact they warned us there maybe more to come, not only in manchester, but also in other important targets, important cities in europe. you can understand, some people are getting in contact with us and they are annoyed we're giving this so much coverage because it gives attention to the terrorists, but the police are desperate to find out who did it and whether they can use this information to prevent things happening down the line? we have to talk about it because it is the latest terrorist incident to take place in europe. we have to talk about this because i don't think this is only a security problem. we have to talk about this because i believe there is a limit to what the security organisations and the security organisations and the security establishment can do. without any doubt, the security establishment in this country has been absolutely remarkable in every sense of the term. they have prevented so many other atrocities, but you know, there is a limit to what they can do because the problem that we are facing is not only a security problem, it is a political problem. it is a cultural problem. it is an ideological problem and i would say it is even a mental health issue because time and time again it has proven to us a lot of individuals who have taken that type of atrocities, who have basically embarked on that type ofjurpb yu, they were extremely vulnerable. maybe they were suffering from some type of mental health issues and in a situation like that, you know, they found some of the messages, some of the ideas that are projected by organisations like the islamic state or al-qaeda extremely empowering and attractive because it can give them a sense of mission, a sense of meaning, a kind of sense of purpose. so really if you want to address this problem, if you want to address this problem, if you want to address this problem, if you want to address this situation we have to broaden our lens a little bit. to only resort to the security establishment to resolve this problem for us. thank you very much for your expertise this morning. security arrangements are being looked at. sadiq khan, the mayor of london, said he will be looking at london, said he will be looking at london arrangements. there will be more police on the streets here. i'm sure similar things are happening in cities right across the united kingdom as well. as news of that explosion spread throughout the night here in manchester, many people went to the city centre to see if they could help. i was telling you earlier, they were offering food and handing out drintion to emergency services and people turning up in their own cars saying "can i give you a lift home?" jane mccubbin has more. there was the shock. there will be grief. but there has also been humanity, from people like ian, who heard the news and had to leave their beds. i have just come down here to see if anyone needed a lift home, if they were stranded. like these two. we live around the corner, and we wanted to see if anyone needed someone to sit with while waiting for a taxi. dave told me he drove into the city to offer free fares. these kind of deeds were happening all over manchester, right through the night. i took a lady to hospital. she'd actually driven to manchester from bradford. her sister was with her two children, who were all in hospital with shrapnel wounds. so, you know, god only knows what these people are feeling like. on the bonnet of police cars, coffees, teas, water, more. passers—by wanted to show their support for the emergency services, any way they can. the officers there just tell me you have been buying dinner. yes, i have. we have to work as part of the team. and as well as all of the support from people that we've spoken to on the street tonight, there has been so much more on social media, on facebook, on twitter. tweets like this, under the hashtag #roomsformanchester, it offers of a spare bed, a spare couch, copious amounts of brew, and a car to take you anywhere you need to be. the people of manchester have really come out this evening to try and do all they can to help, in a horrible situation. in terrible circumstances there are heart warming tales coming through. all major political parties have suspended their general election campaigning following this attack. the snp were due to be releasing their manifesto today. that's been postponed. chris mason told us everything will be put on hold for 2a hours and there is a cobra moment going on. it was scheduled to start at 9am and it is being chaired by theresa mayment we can talk to labour's lucy powell who is a candidate for the up and coming general election. it is not about politics, it is about manchester. what are your thoughts. someone phoned me last night and thoughts. someone phoned me last nightandi thoughts. someone phoned me last night and i watched it on phone ring —— unfolding. it is absolutely evil. this is the time we have to show our humanity as your preview report said. it is a testimony to manchester and the community we are, people are coming together to stand soldier to shoulder, resolute to save these acts of evil will not divide but bring us together. if the person who did this and if there we re person who did this and if there were other people involved, if they thought this would sow the seeds of hatred, they have come to the wrong city, because that is not what our response would be. one life lost is too many, but when you hear about the fact there were thousands of children and some of those children, we know from greater manchester police are among the 22 who have died. 59 injured as well and cou ntless died. 59 injured as well and countless more who will be emotionally scarred by what they saw last night? it is unspeakable. unspea kable, last night? it is unspeakable. unspeakable, unthinkable and despicable. i am a mother myself. everybody watching this will be able to relate to what has happened here. these were teenagers, some of them younger who will have bought these tickets months ago, looking forward to this concert. probably the first concert they have been to, a real moment in their lives and it has endedin moment in their lives and it has ended in terror and horror. iam moment in their lives and it has ended in terror and horror. i am due to go there in a few weeks myself with my daughter to a concert she has been looking forward to. i can only imagine how the families must be feeling today when they send off their teenagers, they youngsters to go to this concert and arrange to pick them up afterwards and are now unable to find them. words cannot describe what they must be going to and our thoughts must be with them first and foremost today. we have heard from the metro mayor of manchester, and as hard as it sounds, it is important manchester gets back to business as usual, as much is possible. i wonder how that is when the mayor of london has said there will be increased security in london and ariana grande has suspended her world tour. there will be increased presence on the streets and people will see that as well and there will be, i am sure, lots of questions about security venues like this when bags checked on the way m, this when bags checked on the way in, but doors are open on the way out. there will be many questions and people will see a difference in the way these things are policed in the way these things are policed in the future? we must all learn lessons and take stock after these horrific events. what we have shown in manchester before, we have been hit by a very big terrorist act before. although, there wasn't the fatalities we have seen, we have been hit by other events in this country as well. how we respond as a country, as communities, is to show that life goes on and we will not be cowered and these horrible, evil a cts cowered and these horrible, evil acts of terror are designed to make us acts of terror are designed to make us change our acts of terror are designed to make us change our way acts of terror are designed to make us change our way of life and designed to make is turn against each other and to respond with anger and hatred. as much as we are all so angry, we have to try and turn the anger into something positive and pa rt anger into something positive and part of that is carrying on as usual after, you know, what will be a necessary and important period of grief. lucy powell, thank you for joining us on breakfast. if you are wondering why breakfast is still on, we are reflecting on the news that 22 people died last night at a terrorist bombing at the manchester arena at a concert of ariana grande, the american singer. thousands of people there, many of them children. 22 died and 59 injured. those are the latest figures from greater manchester police. we will be staying on until about 9:30 a.m.. theresa may is chairing an emergency meeting of the government's cobra committee. eleanor garnier, a different day, we have been used to ma nifestos different day, we have been used to manifestos and political chatter for the last few days, but everything has been suspended and attention this morning on but cobra meeting? yes, iam this morning on but cobra meeting? yes, i am outside the cabinet office and we think that cobra meeting started a few minutes ago. it is a top level meeting in whitehall, we saw the defence secretary michael fallon going through the doors. there will be other ministers, plus senior police officers and security leaders as well. what they will be discussing is the information, all the intelligence they have been able to gather so far and they will be updating the politicians as to what they know and what they will be trying to find out. they will want to know more about this supposed attack, whether he was acting alone. evenif attack, whether he was acting alone. even if they have been able to identify him. as you pointed out, all political campaigning has suspended. jeremy corbyn and the prime minister spoke and agreed all national campaigning would be suspended and we did have an early statement from the prime minister overnight saying, all her thoughts and prayers wear with those victims of the blast. she said they were working hard to establish the details of what was being treated by the police, as an appalling terrorist attack. we had from amber rudd this morning, the home secretary, saying the attacker targeted some of the most vulnerable in our country and the home secretary praise the emergency services for their response to the incident. we know the liberal democrats, the green party, the snp, who were due to publish their ma nifesto who were due to publish their manifesto today, have confirmed, as well as ukip, they have confirmed they have suspended their campaigning and as yet, we don't know when it will resume. thank you for the latest on that cobra meeting. all morning, louise has been outside the manchester arena. you have been talking about things trying to get back to normal in manchester. we can see things as normal as it can be with people on their way to work this morning? absolutely. i have been here since about 5am when the streets were quiet and about 5am when the streets were quietand a about 5am when the streets were quiet and a big area of manchester city centre is cordoned off. what you see behind be is a stream of people trying to get to work. many cannot go to the cord and so they are walking round. many people still on their way to work. we know so much more than when we started this morning, we have had the stories of eyewitnesses, bravery, decisions to turn left instead of right which saved people'slives. i spoke to one man who had gone to the foyer. we understand explosion happened in the foyer and he was right on the edge waiting by a doorfor his daughter when the blast went off. it is good to see you this morning because you were there last mac having a conversation with somebody waiting for your daughter to come out? yes, my wife and daughter, they went to the concert. we got my daughter the tickets for christmas. we arranged to meet them where you come out from the station. as you come out from the station. as you come up from the station there is a concourse with the box office and then the merging dice —— merchandise fella. i was talking to one of the stuff on the door. she had the door open to the concert hall? yes, she had the door open. when the explosion went off, i think i would have been one of them. but me and the girl were blown through the door. you are blown about 30 feet? i don't know how far i went, but i was flown quite a bit, my ears popped, the noise was horrendous and the floor shook. when i got up, there we re floor shook. when i got up, there were bodies everywhere. i ran into the stadium and everybody were being evacuated the other way. i couldn't see my family. i tried to ring them, no single, nothing. i rang my mum and my brother and told them to keep trying to ring them. when i went backin trying to ring them. when i went back in the foyer, there were just people lying on the floor seriously hurt. i had to look to see if it was my family. your daughter and your wife were ok, they were still inside? they managed to get out of the other way. my wife said there we re the other way. my wife said there were a kid stood there and didn't know what to do. if their parents we re know what to do. if their parents were waiting for them to come out and they couldn't get out that way, they did know what to do. he talked about trying to help people as well? the emergency crews turned up quick, but a lot of them were not sure what to do because they had probably never seen to do because they had probably never seen anything like that. i am not sure how well trained they get on stuff like that, but we were grabbing the merchandise and wrapping it round people'sheads and their wounds. then i got a phone call to say my wife and daughter we re call to say my wife and daughter were waiting for me and i had to go. we are still getting details, this is an ongoing investigation. with me, i have daniel sandford. what more can you tell us? if we go back to the beginning, what appears to have happened is a person, carrying a bomb in some way has gone into the foyer area of the manchester arena just after the ariana grande concert had ended as parents were waiting to collect their children. this has killed 22 of the concertgoers and people waiting for them to leave. as we understand it, 23 dead, 22 of them victims and one bomber. people working hard to try to identify him. we understand there was some form of id on him but the police need to check whether it was his id or if he was carrying other id. slightly relu cta nt to was carrying other id. slightly reluctant to call him a suicide bomber, or whether he might have been under pressure to detonate the device. but it is essentially a suicide blast at a concert attended by thousands of teenage children. let's talk about the target because they were very young children, a concert in the heart of a city centre? for all of the terrorism attacks we have seen over the years, an unusual target. in bataclan in paris, it was a concert attended by adults and older people and to see a concert being attended by teenagers is really unusual. there was already concern in counterterrorism circles about the summer festivals, music festivals coming up. they will be doing some communication work with the public about what to do when attending music festivals and how to stay safe. this will bring it home because lots of young people will be going away from home to go to concerts and people will be very worried. and there is a cobra meeting today and there will be more information presumably after that? that cobra meeting is a meeting of senior officials and politicians and we should get further updates out of that, but the focus is identifying who this man was that they do this and whether or not he was working with anybody else. daniel sandford, thank you. we will look up the street here. the centre of manchester and it is a different scene manchester and it is a different scene today. people clearly upset walking the streets, but also very determined they will go to work as normal. louise, thank you very much. the message is, life continues, i suppose. thank you for watching this, i know it is not the news you wa nted this, i know it is not the news you wanted to wake up to and it is not the news we hope to bring you, but as we come to the end of the brea kfast as we come to the end of the breakfast programme this morning, we know 22 people died last night in manchester. some of those children and 59 are at various hospitals across greater manchester this and as the leader of manchester city council were telling us, some of those who are fighting for their lives this morning. we will bring you be updates and the latest throughout the day on the bbc. various information on the bbc website and the bbc news channel will continue this as well. police have said today, they believe one man was involved, they are trying to find out if he was acting alone and they believe he died at the scene. but the huge police operation continues. we have spoken a lot about those 22 people who have lost their lives, we have talked about their lives, we have talked about the 59 who are injured and some of whom are struggling for their lives this morning as well. i hope you feel we have brought you the kindness that many have showed running towards the trouble to help others and have responded in the right way. so even some positive news coming out of a desperate situation. that is it from breakfast this morning, stay with us on bbc news for special coverage of the story in manchester. 9am and it is being chaired by theresa mayment we can talk to labour's lucy powell who is a candidate for the up and coming general election. good morning. in manchester a suicide bombing at a pop concert last night killed 22 people and wounded nearly 60 others. children we re wounded nearly 60 others. children were among the dead. suddenly there isa were among the dead. suddenly there is a massive flash and then a bang, smoke, and i felt is a massive flash and then a bang, smoke, and ifelt a bit of pain is a massive flash and then a bang, smoke, and ifelta bit of pain in my foot and my leg and i turned around to my wife who was stood at the side of me and she said, "i need to lay down." i to lay her down on floor. she has a stomach wound and possibly a broken leg. one of those injured... inaudible said the floor was covered with