the vast majority of today's programme focused on the manchester attack. it happened late on monday evening at the manchester arena. an ariana grande concert had just finished — and fans were leaving the venue when a suicide bomber detonated an explosive device in a foyer area. the attacker has been named as 22—year—old salman abedi. 22 people were killed and 59 were injured. for more, let's bring in christian who is live in manchester, tell us more about where you are? who is live in manchester, tell us more about where you are ?|j who is live in manchester, tell us more about where you are? i am in albert square, we have had a fairly poignant memorial service this evening. people coming together, hundreds of people, lots of dignitaries from manchester, the new mayor andy burn alongside the home secretary and amber rudd. people from the muslim community intent on showing their solidarity, it can be on occasions like this there are divisions within communities but the muslim people here that we have been speaking to our intent on showing there is just one voice. we speaking to our intent on showing there isjust one voice. we have seen there isjust one voice. we have seen some there isjust one voice. we have seen some of that resilience tonight in albert square. i was thinking it would have been about this time last night that the show would have been well underway, 21,000 people packed into the arena. it was a sell—out, many of them had had tickets for weeks and months, looking forward to it, and we all know what happened at the end of those concerts, everyone excited and happy and in high spirits. but as they started to make their way out of the conservator thatis their way out of the conservator that is when the evening was turned on its head because salman abedi, 22 yea rs on its head because salman abedi, 22 years old, born in manchester, a former manchester united supporter, he went into the area you would leave the concert hall on your way to the victoria station and put himself in a position where he would cause maximum damage and maximum number of deaths. what has chilled people here today is that he did it knowing full well many of his victims would have been young people. here's what we know about the sequence of events. police were called to the venue at 10:33 in the evening. as people were leaving the explosion happened in a foyer connecting to victoria train station. casualties have been treated in eight hospitals in manchester. 60 ambulances from all around the north, not just here 60 ambulances from all around the north, notjust here in manchester but also north wales as well. the islamic state group say they are behind the attack. but we have had very little detail in the message is circulated by the so—called islamic state. the bbc‘s special correspondent gavin hewitt filed this report a short while ago. ariana grande's concert was coming to an end when from the foyer the sound of an explosion came. there were screams, then running. a crowd of children, teenagers, parents heading for whatever exit they could find. 22 people were killed near the entrance. nearly 60 were injured. suddenly a massive flash and bang. smoke. my wife, i laid her down on the floor. she's got bruising. she had won that slide it under her chin, and bruised. she's probably broken a femur in her left leg. something really hot flew over and landed behind me and my sister. we dropped to the floor. i thought they were behind me, so i ran out. then i realised they weren't, so i tried to run back in because i was worried. i shouted for my mum but i couldn't hear anything. my ear is all blocked. it was really scary. all i could hear was screaming, shouting. everyone was running everywhere. it was complete madness. before the night was over, the police knew they were dealing with an attack by a suicide bomber with a home—made explosive device packed with metal fragments. it was a deliberate attack on children and young people, timed just at the moment when parents were waiting to pick up their sons and daughters. during the night, specialist teams were brought in. 400 police officers were deployed, along with forensic teams. early on, police appeared to know the identity of the bomber. then within the last hour, an update. i can confirm that the man suspected of carrying out last night's atrocity is 22—year—old salman abedi. however, he has not been formally named by the coroner, and i wouldn't wish to therefore comment any further about him at this stage. and on the street, survivors reliving a concert that ended in fear and murder. this is helen and isabella. we hit the corridor, when we saw masses of people running in absolute terror and panic to get out of the place. young teenage children, 1a, 15. there were mothers with children, carrying them over their shoulder. there were people with even wheelchairs panicking to get out. laura and isabella's concert ended in a chaotic search for an exit. we just ran. i don't really know which entrance we came out of. we just ran, but we also found two girls that had lost their parents, or had to get home on their own. so they were in tow. they were very scared because they were on their own. manchester has been a city on edge today, shaken by alerts and rumours. and a shopping centre evacuated. it is now beyond doubt that the people of manchester and of this country have fallen victim to a callous terrorist attack. an attack that targeted some of the youngest people in our society with cold calculation. this was amongst the worst terrorist incidents we have ever experienced in the united kingdom. during the day, police raided a number of houses. a 23—year—old man was arrested in connection with yesterday's bomb attack. an attack on an event like what happened last night has long been feared. preventing a determined suicide bomber is incredibly difficult. the priority now for the police will be to discover everything they can about this man — whether he is part of a wider network and whether there is a risk of further attacks. dozens of people are still trying to trace loved ones after last night's bombing. among the missing, 0livia campbell, aged 15. and some of the first victims of the attack have been named. georgina callander was aged 18, seen here with ariana grande at a previous event. and eight—year—old saffie roussos was amongst those killed. it was an attack directed at young people, at innocence. as gavin says there is an active police investigation underway. earlier today at 23—year—old man was arrested in south manchester, that will presumably be a line of investigation. what they are trying to learn is more about salman abedi, and how did he know how to make this bomb? did somebody supply him with it? in that scenario that means there is a bomb maker still at large perhaps not known to security services and that carries a risk of further attacks. that will bring much be the focus of the investigation. our home editor mark easton has the latest on the investigation, his report contains flash photography, who was behind this attack on innocents? as the concert ended and the lights came up, as children left for home, music in their ears, smiles on their young faces, who chose that moment to indulge their hateful ideology? there is no need to bunch up and run. take yourtime and exit the building. we now know the suicide bomber‘s name, manchester—born salman abedi did this. but police think others may have been involved and today launched raids on people thought to have been his associates. a 23—year—old man was arrested in the manchester district of whalley range. a short distance away at another house in fallowfield, a controlled explosion took place. it was like when you watch films and you hear a bomb go off, but more of a muffled sound. it was like what you see in the movie. everyone was scared at that moment. then we got to the end of the avenue and saw the police and it hit home that it's your doorstep. this part of the city is known to have been home to a number of islamist extremists in recent years, some with links to syria and libya, some alive and some dead. to construct a viable bomb that can be safely transported, secreted through security and then detonated on command is not something an amateur can easily achieve. police say the device was home—made, with reports that it contained nuts, bolts, ball bearings and nails. so—called islamic state says that one of their soldiers of the caliphate attacked what a statement called "a debauched party. " but the group frequently claims attacks in their aftermath which later proved to have no connection. this attack was planned, premeditated, and they're almost certainly will be other people involved in this attack. the most important thing is to catch them, to identify them and to bring them into custody. until we've done that, then this attack really isn't over. greater manchester police are working with the national counter—terrorism policing network, with interpol and the intelligence services to try to find out who planned mass murder in manchester. 0ur priority, along with the police counter—terrorist network and our security partners, is to continue to establish whether he was acting alone or working as part of a wider network. almost exactly a year ago, police and emergency services in manchester held a training exercise forjust this kind of terrorist incident. for a number of years, the threat level has been set at severe, meaning an attack is highly likely. the prime minister said today that that is now under review. understandably, the city is nervous, people on edge. but there is a determination not to be cowed by terror. "manchester united" is the fitting response to a vicious attack on fair manchester city. mark easton, bbc news, manchester. the spirit of the north alive and well, a lot of resilience onshore. all political campaigning has been postponed and might be so for several days to come but theresa may has been to manchester to meet greater manchester police and hear first hand how the investigation is going. tonight she went back to downing street for a cobra meeting. let's bring in alex forsyth, we saw pictures of the foreign secretary leaving a short while ago, any update on what was discussed? not so far, we know this was the second meeting today of the government ‘s emergency cobra committee, the first took place early this morning when the magnitude of what had happened in manchester became clear. again the prime minister came back to downing street and around 8pm chaired another meeting of the government ‘s emergency committee. what would have been discussed what would have been discussed was the progress of the investigation taking place in manchester. theresa may and amber rudd meeting with greater manchester police earlier on today but also a big part of those discussions would have focused on the current threat level which stands on severe 3s the current threat level which stands on severe as things are and theresa may when she spoke in downing street earlier on said it would be continuously assessed and monitored through coming days and weeks. that also would have been the subject of discussions at the emergency committee meeting. we know it finished some time ago because the foreign secretary borisjohnson was seen the foreign secretary borisjohnson was seen to leave downing street in a pretty sombre mood and we know the defence secretary michael fallon also left the meeting so we are currently waiting to hear what was discussed and an update on things we are expecting fairly soon. what can you tell us about the election campaign? 0bviously you tell us about the election campaign? obviously there will be you would expect in the coming days some talk of resuming the campaign perhaps more vigorously than before to show that democracy is robust. there was no doubt in anybody‘s mind that when people realised what had happened in manchester that the campaign would have two paws. the political leaders of every uk party unanimous in that from the early hours of this morning. no question the cut and thrust of political debate must take a step back as people deal with the aftermath of what happens and come to terms with the magnitude of it. but there is also a message from all of the political leaders that life must go on in the face of incidents like this, theresa may making it very clear she did not want the values of terrorists to prevail, british values should prevail. there will be a sense that the campaigns will not resume as soon a sense that the campaigns will not resume as soon as tomorrow a sense that the campaigns will not resume as soon as tomorrow but in the next few days politicians of all parties will want to get back some of normality, echo that spirit of defiance that people can get back and take part in a democratic system which at times this can be so important to a country. absolutely, thank you. those messages of defiance certainly coming from the stage which is currently being deconstructed behind me but a lot of politicians showing their solidarity with manchester. the thing which struck me today listening to people is how the emergency services responded with such speed. in an incident like this and you have heard from many eyewitnesses who said they did not know what was going to happen next there is always a chance of a secondary incident but the emergency services were running up the emergency services were running up towards the arena showing some extraordinary bravery and the loudest applause we heard in the square today when it was packed with hundreds of people was for the emergency services. a lot of crying as well and i think there will be more tears as we as well and i think there will be more tears as we learn as well and i think there will be more tears as we learn the details of those killed, many of them young people, some of them children under the age of 16, the youngest eight yea rs the age of 16, the youngest eight years old. there are 59 people in hospital at the moment, a huge response from the ambulance service last night, 60 ambulances reacting at one point, notjust from greater manchester but also north wales and across the northwest. 59 patients at eight hospitals in the greater manchester area, including nine here at manchester royal infirmary. we don't know how many of that total are seriously injured, with life—threatening conditions, we know that some of them are. some are in intensive care and some we have been told may well be in hospital for quite some time. we don't know how many children or adults there are, but we do know that there are 12 patients at the royal manchester children's hospital, which is for the under 16s, and there is at least one other child in hospital at another of the hospitals in this area. the sense i get from the emergency services, from north west ambulance service and from the local nhs, is that they have made it clear nothing can prepare you for the shock and the horror and sadness at something like this. there is a quiet sense of relief, i think, that the disaster plan they had drawn up and they had worked very carefully on, they could put into practise. they had planned for an incident just like this, and that meant that individual hospitals like this one, very quickly called in staff, overnight, lots of staff came in as part of that plan, and lots more did as well who were off duty. some of who were told they weren't actually needed. the ambulance service made clear there were 300 of its staff, including the control room, who were involved in this. they had support from other ambulance services — the west midlands and yorkshire and so on. and one point that staff are wanting to make, some of them have come out to tell us is they have been overwhelmed by the gratitude of local people. they want to thank local people for coming in with cakes and drinks. there has been a stream of people coming in. 0ne elderly patient, a woman in a wheelchair with bottles of water. local catering firms with boxes of food. there is a room in there full of these gifts, and they are trying to distribute them widely, but they feel very touched by that, and for them, that sort of symbolises, as we have been hearing earlier, the spirit of manchester today. we saw the worst of humanity last night but we have seen the best of it since that attack. it's notjust people coming forward to give blood, it's the way people have reacted with ordinary selfless things they can do to help, taxi drivers offering free rides to people to get them home, i met one man, who ran a free taxi service all night, he has not been to bed yet and he ran a man toa not been to bed yet and he ran a man to a hospital who had lost his girlfriend so he was offering comfort to some people as well. we heard from hotel that bit up children separated from their pa rents, children separated from their parents, families were separated in the panic and it was difficult for pa rents to the panic and it was difficult for parents to keep hold of children. people just offering rooms, extraordinary community spirit here in manchester and that is the heart—warming aspect of what has happened in the last 20 hours or so. 0ur correspondent sophie long reports on how the community has rallied round. manchester was a city understandably on edge this morning — panic as another building in the city centre was evacuated. smashed all the windows down in the arndale to get out. some lads have just said... everyone's just ran. this time it was a false alarm and while the threat is felt acutely, people here are coming together and the human spirit, the defiance, is strong. no amount of evilness will ever, ever dampen any good thought there is about manchester. cab drivers who worked through the night, foregoing theirfares, were back keeping the city moving again today. mostly the teenagers, like, 8 to 16 or 1a years old, all these girls they're crying for their mothers and their parents as well they're crying. then we take to their home, take to the hotel, take to the train station. i said, "how many people? jump in the cab and i'll drop you there." when i asked people how they feel about what happened here, so many people have said to me — i have no words, and words have been difficult to find today as people just begin to get their heads around the atrocity that took place right in the heart of their city. what comes more easily to people here are actions. people queued to give their blood. 0bviously, with the tragedy that's happened, if we can help in that way, that'd be beneficial. so it'd be nice, you know, to do something to help. ijust really wanted to come down and see if i could help at all because it's such a massive tragedy. there's just been an overwhelming response on social media, so i thought i'd come down and try and give blood. do my bit, yeah. people connected — in person, by phone. even the very young were among those responding. go find a policeman. helping to keep people going. thank you very much. thank you. i saw it on the news and i work in manchester, i do security, and it just scares you really that it's so close to home and we're sat at home, so we might as well help, which ever way we can. 0n the city's streets today a real sense of a community coming together. after what happened yesterday, there's a responsibility to do something and i just want to show people that they're loved. so we're just going around by hugging people because, ultimately, love's the only thing that we can do when we're facing hate. yeah. that's how manchester is responding to an inhumane, cowardly attack, with countless acts of kindness. i was telling you about the taxi driver i met who helped through the course of the evening, let's hear more from him, it was an interesting interview, his name was a we opened our doors to the general public who needed a bit of shelter, somewhere to get a taxi or a phone and these chaps stepped in and help wherever they could in providing the community services we are known for. you ferried home so many people from the arena last night, what stories stick in your mind? i would say the gentleman who lost his girlfriend. just thinking about it, it makes you shiver. a child telling me she felt like she was in a war zone. those kind of stories you would not think would come from a city like manchester. the manchester family are still crying. tell me about the man who lost his girlfriend, how did you come across him and what sort of support were you able to offer? basically i took him to the hospital and he found out his girlfriend had passed away. but he did not have a phone. he could not communicate with his family. he did not have any money. the problem i faced last night was i had a taxi sign and people assumed if you have got a taxi sign you need money. so the second journey i did i basically, i did the second journey, the third journey i got a piece of paper and literally wrote up, with a bit of sellotape, free taxi, and stuck it on the back of my car. how many journeys do you think you did?|j lost journeys do you think you did?” lost count after 14. i have not slept yet, the work is still being carried on by our skies. we are delivering food to all the emergency services, we are going around the hospitals, ensuring they have got clothes, water, food. we are going pretty much everywhere, we have over 200 taxi is offering the free ride service home. it does not matter where you are, we have been to birmingham today and blackpool. quickly, how many people do you think you help last night? 80 or 90 who came to the temple and got something to eat and we got them a lift home and give them a hot drink. to extraordinary men among many extraordinary people who came out here in manchester last night. many of those people at the arena last night came to albert square are just a couple of hours ago, hundreds of people here standing room only, people here standing room only, people squashed together in the square. the vigil began with the show of appreciation for the emergency services, the lord mayor of manchester said it was a chance to express solidarity with the victims but i think a lot of people recognising the extraordinary work the emergency services dead last night which surely save the lives of many injured. speaking at the vigil we also heard from the bishop of manchester david walker. he believes the city ‘s unity have been strengthened by the diversity you can see behind me. this is an unbelievable turnout tonight, it shows that they are the very few but we are the many, we are manchester. applause. as a small boy i passed this town hall every school day on my way from home to my education and it symbolised all that was great about this city, it symbolises the unity we have had ever since we first were a city. a unity that has been strengthened by our diversity, we are the successful world city we are because people have come from all parts of the world and we have welcomed them and they have made their homes here and they have become manchester too. applause. we will pull through the events of last night because we will stand together, stand together whatever our background, whatever our religion, whatever our beliefs or our politics, we will stand together to say that this city is greater than the forces that align itself against it and as we say that we are sending a signal not just to manchester but across the world, that you cannot defeat us because love in the end is always stronger than hate. cheering + applause. that's certainly the manchester message today, but there will be hundreds, thousands of people at the arena last night who will be lost in their thoughts this evening, hearing their thoughts this evening, hearing the explosion and they will know they had a lucky escape. there will be nightmares and there will be some tough things to deal with i think for a lot of people at the arena last night in the days and weeks ahead in particular as we start to hear the stories of those killed. greater manchester police have been asking people who took photographs and videos last night as they were making their way out of the arena to post them on a website they have made available. they want to hear from any eyewitnesses. judith moderates has been speaking to two of them who are cousins. i've been waiting to see her tour for about four years. so i've literally been waiting for so long, and then she finally released the tour dates and we were like "we'll save up and get good tickets, because we are going to be at the front". and we did. we got the vip package. it was just one of those things. i had to go. she just came out, and i cried when she came out. i started crying. the people behind me were crying. it's just a bit overwhelming when you meet someone you've just idolised for four or five years. the gig was nearly finished, or pretty much finished? yeah, she had done an encore and she had just finished. and she'd just left. we got up out of our seats, literally walked to the end of our aisle, and that's when we heard it happen. and what did you hear? a really loud bang. it sounded more like a gunshot.