Out to be nothing. Manchester is on edge. It reflects the current climate. If you hear a bang, u nfortu nately, climate. If you hear a bang, unfortunately, people think the worst because of Terror Attacks around the world. I think there are ripple effects across the globe with people reacting to this. Wherever you are in the world, people will be hearing about this story, and u nfortu nately, hearing about this story, and unfortunately, it will resonate with people. Paris has it as well. U nfortu nately, people. Paris has it as well. Unfortunately, this is something we are hearing about a lot more. We heard from theresa may, the british Prime Minister, i will read that statement again, we are working to establish the full details of what is being treated by the police as an appalling terror attack. All of my thoughts are with the victims and the families and all who have been affected. She said in the last hour she has suspended campaigning for the general election here which is due to take place on the eighth of june. We have also heard that the labour leader, jeremy corbyn, he has described it as well as a terrible incident, and his thoughts are with all of those caught up in it. One last thing to mention, the mayor of manchester, andy burnham, he says his thoughts go out with everyone affected. There is a sense of defiance with everyone pulling together. We heard about taxi drivers giving people who were Stranded Lifts home. Others Offering Rooms in hotels to wait in. A city trying to unite in difficult circumstances. Roomformanchester. You can imagine how many people are absolutely bewildered in Manchester City after what happened, many of them Young Children. We heard a Train Station next to the arena, it was blocked. It was close to where the explosion occurred. Obviously, checks will have to go on there. For some people, they have potentially travelled long distances to get to the arena. They may not have a route home, certainly, in the early hours. Travelling home will be difficult to be some will need somewhere to stay. I think it is reassuring in a really upsetting situation that the best in some people is being brought out. They are Offering Rooms. Hotels are, we we re they are Offering Rooms. Hotels are, we were told, taking in unaccompanied teenagers while they wait to find their parents. It is obviously not just the wait to find their parents. It is obviously notjust the British Government monitoring the situation In Manchester. We have heard from the department of Homeland Security in the us. They are closely monitoring the situation In Manchester. They say there is no obvious threat of any attacks in us Music Theatre is. Theatres. Obviously, a huge operation is ongoing In Manchester. A huge amount of interest from international governments. Yes. As i said, it will have a ripple effect. Across the world, really. All of these venues will review their security and evacuation protocol. They will look to see if they have any weaknesses in there and security. And that is a sense of reflection when something terrible like this happens. Their own security. Every government will look at their own threats. Looking at the statement from the department of Homeland Security in the us. They said the public may experience increased security in and around Public Places and events as officials take additional precautions. I think people expect that, dont they . They want to make sure everything is being looked at. Nothing is being ruled in, nothing is being ruled out, when it comes to security after Something Like this. The Security Level in the uk is not at its highest level yet. It is at the second highest. Compare it to france. Look at paris. They were under a full state of emergency. France. Look at paris. They were under a full state of emergencym has been at that level for a while in the uk. In the last couple of months, you hear about Terror Attacks being foiled, the level of information shared between Security Services, not just in information shared between Security Services, notjust in the uk, but around the world. This is a constant threat Security Services are tackling. Unfortunately, last night, something slipped through and happened. This is not something you can plan for. You can have all that intelligence and take all those precautions. You can know who was behind it, but you will never be able to plan for everything. They will look at the motive and take those accounts from witnesses, the sound, where it was placed. Earlier, tom mullen gave us the latest from manchester. I am ten minutes from the arena. The area has been cordoned off. We are being pushed back by the police who seem very keen to clear the wider area. There are some people who are obviously still in shock. People are looking for information and are on their phones, very much contacting their friends and family to let them know theyre friends and family to let them know they re safe. Friends and family to let them know theyre safe. There is still a lot of confusion. Only a small amount of information has filtered out from the police. People are very shaken. I have spoken to people who worry and years, frankly. People are very, very upset. Who are in tears. I saw one person who said they have two daughters and there only priority is getting their Children Home safely. There. Other people have been candid and said there are many people being treated, many covered in blood. But the feeling is still confusion. No one knows what happened. Everyone is shaken. Still confusion. No one knows what happened. Everyone is shakenlj still confusion. No one knows what happened. Everyone is shaken. Ican just imagine the amount of people trying to find their loved ones. In the chaos we saw, in the venue, when people were trying to get out of there as fast as they could, just there as fast as they could, just the number of children who must have beenin the number of children who must have been in this concert people have been in this concert people have been very conscious that this was the kind of gig enjoyed by younger people. That is one of the things that struck me. Children were there with their parents or guardians. And, umm, yeah. Tom, we heard one report a local hotel was taking in unaccompanied children. It seems people are doing what they can. We heard one report that taxi drivers are turning of metres and taking people where they need to go. People seem to be helpful at the moment. The police seem caring and are answering questions of people. Telling people to go and move away. They are still handing out portions of drinks and chips to people. The atmosphere seems to be very supportive for the General Public around here. Tom mullen from the bbc speaking a while ago. One of the people around the arena captured the moment it went off. Explosion. Screaming. 0h moment it went off. Explosion. Screaming. Oh my god what happened whats going on oh my god that was inside the arena. We now know it happened outside the arena in the foyer area when people were leaving. You can hear it was a muffled boom. At that time there was confusion about what caused the noise. Sarah corkeris about what caused the noise. Sarah corker is still with us. We were hoping it was something not suspicious and deadly, but it turned out to be what people feared. When reports came through at 1030 last night, there were all sorts of theories. People were hoping it was not something sinister. They were talking about balloons potentially pimping, talking about balloons potentially popping, Electronic Devices something going on with the system. Yeah. Yeah. All sorts of theories. Asi yeah. Yeah. All sorts of theories. As i said, in this climate, when you hear a loud bang, people rush for the exit. We were thinking a couple of hours ago, perhaps it was just a loud bang and people got hurt in the crush. But unfortunately it has been confirmed by Manchester Police this was some kind of explosion. We dont have any more information about the type of device, the cause of the explosion. They just type of device, the cause of the explosion. Theyjust said it is a terrorist incident. There has been a lot of activity through the night from emergency services. We have seen images of armed police on control in the city. Bomb disposal teams as well. Sniffer dogs, the fire service. This is a huge and major incidents that is ongoing to be in the message coming through from police is please avoid the area while we deal with this. Answer. Hospitals across the area are treating 59 people who are injured. U nfortu nately, we treating 59 people who are injured. Unfortunately, we have had confirmation of the death toll, which is 19 people. I think as the morning goes on, we will be looking for something from the hospitals to try and get some condition checks on those people and the types of injuries we have been hearing of, like shrapnel like injuries, crushing wounds, the walking wounded. I saw a man this morning with both legs strapped up. It is a whole range of injuries. And also the demographic. This kind of concert attracts younger fans, pa rents concert attracts younger fans, parents with Young Children. I think that sadly over the next few hours, we will hear some of the ages of those killed. We saw the clip showing the moment of the explosion from the perspective of those still inside the auditorium. That gives us a sense of the security of the place, it went off outside the main part, and the theories why the attacker chose that place for the bomb, if we can call it that at this stage. It is interesting. Presumably, to go inside, you would have needed Security Checks. But the foyer was free moving. You didnt need a check. I go to gigs a lot. There are not many Security Checks when you leave because people want to get out quickly. You dont necessarily monitor people going in. It may be parents going to get children. So that is perhaps one of the theories. At that time, whoever is behind this device, this explosion, may have though, oh, thats a weak point. And the foyer, thats a weak point. And the foyer, thatis thats a weak point. And the foyer, that is an area near the Ticket Office where after a gig people go to buy merchandise, t shirts, posters, mugs, of the person they went to see. It is disturbing that it was targeted and the timing of it. Remember that this gig went off a couple of minutes after it ended, around 10 35pm, targeted to hit people as they were going out to pipe we will leave it there for the moment. Out. Ed thomas is close to the scene. There could be a delay. We mentioned many victims inevitably will be young people. Apart from the physical injuries some of these people have sustained, there will, of course, be shock, and mental scars remaining long after this evening. We have seen the shock on peoples faces, absolute shock. People ran all the way down here. This is that the north end of the city. If you go further down there to the left, behind that big building, where you can see the words 0 park, that is the arena. This is the outdoor cordon, and that is about the seventh ambulance that we have seen coming down here. Injured people are still making their way out. We will speak to elizabeth and her daughter. First of all, thank you so much for stopping to talk to us. You are 15, you are inside. You are happy to speak to us. What did you see, what did you hear . We were walking out of the concert, towards the doors, and went to the wrong doors originally and i said to my sister these are the wrong doors, so said to my sister these are the wrong doois, so we said to my sister these are the wrong doors, so we started walking to the other set and that is when we heard an explosion. Sol to the other set and that is when we heard an explosion. So 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 he was screaming, people crying, people just running everywhere, it was complete madness. And this was a concert, you are there to have fun. Yes, it is a concert, people are there to go and see their idol, and it has been ruined, really. And you we re it has been ruined, really. And you were in the foyer, in the centre of the explosion. Everyone just stopped still, and it all went off, and it runs started running everywhere. And you ran all the way to this hotel here, where elizabeth, your mum, you we re here, where elizabeth, your mum, you were waiting. Yes, we were there, me and my husband, and just beaten down the door when they opened it, and all the way down the flights of stairs in the hotel and just basically fell in the doorway. And you are going on social media and sharing pictures. I am sharing pictures of missing people, people that need help, people that have nowhere to sleep, people that need food or a stranded In Manchester, to try and get their awareness out for people who are willing to help. Thank you for waiting and thank you for talking to us, and i hope you get home soon. Where is home again . East yorkshire. And that is a story you hear from many, east yorkshire. And that is a story you hearfrom many, thank you very much, that is a story you hear from many people here. This might be In Manchester but people across the north of england have arrived here to go to this concert. And Something Else has happened, as well. We have seen ordinary people, people who live in the city, they have come out to hand out water bottles. They have come out to try and give people left. A procession of police cars going down there, some Unmarked Police cars. There is still an ongoing investigation. Police, Counter Terrorism officers, trying to piece together what is going on. But back to the effort of people here In Manchester. We can speak to this man, you come from liverpool. What is your name, and what is your job . Robbie, i am a taxi driver. A few of the lads phoned each other, and we stayed on the outskirts, picking people up by the mcdonalds and taking them back. Some of us have made our way back to see if there are any other people. And are your colleagues doing this as well . Yes, it is a few of us appear. I dont know where they are, but parking the car where you can, asking around where scouses r. That is typical of a lot of people we have seen here today, people just coming out, trying to help people, and all the while police continuing to investigate and trying to piece together what happened here. Police say a suspected terrorist incident. The Prime Minister, theresa may, has called it a terrorist incident, so investigators need to find out what happens. And as we talk to you there at the scene In Manchester, we have had an indication that many scores of people have been injured. Do we have a sense of what kind of injuries people are carrying to the hospital . 59 people, that is the latest amount of injuries that we have been told. 19 people confirmed dead. We did speak to one man, gary, who was there with his wife and two children. He said after the blast he looked down and his wife was on the floor, his foot was bleeding, and he said Hejust Cradled his floor, his foot was bleeding, and he said he just cradled his wife for what he said was about an hour. He said he looked on the floor and he gives the nuts and bolts all around him. He said he was keeping them with his feet. We do know that Suicide Bombers have packed nuts and bolts and nails into bonds previously, for maximum impact, to create as many injured people as possible. We still know what the source of this explosion is now up to Anti Terror Police to find out that what we do know is officers in unmarked cars, armed officers, surrounded the silver vehicle not too far away from here, and one person was taken out of the vehicle at gunpoint. So far, no confirmation at gunpoint. So far, no confirmation at all if any arrests have been made or where police are in the investigation. But the chief co nsta ble of investigation. But the Chief Constable of greater Manchester Police, ian hopkins, spoke before and urged people to phone the national antiterrorism hotline with whatever information they have got. And just give us a sense, you talked to some people there on the street who are wandering around in the early hours of the evening, hitting a sense of what it is like theyre In Manchester. What is the overriding sense of people . Is it confusion, is it anger, is the bewilderment of what has happened . First of all, was the confusion. There was that disbelief, and now we arejust seeing there was that disbelief, and now we are just seeing people who want to go home. Not everyone here is from manchester, people just want to get in taxis. They are phoning their pa rents, in taxis. They are phoning their parents, telling them to come and pick them up. We were told there was a hotel near here which had unaccompanied children here. We have seen two Young Children just walk down the street, being directed by somebody towards people at the end of the road. So peoplejust want somebody towards people at the end of the road. So people just want to get home, they want to be with loved ones, they just want to feel safe. And i guess the police are going to wa nt to and i guess the police are going to want to be speaking to as many people as possible who were there present, to get their eyewitness accounts, to help them piece together what happened. But ultimately a lot of these people are going to be children who, it has to be said, will be in a state of shock. Yes, this is children, teenagers, who go to these concerts. This is something that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. Police will want to know what happened here. Already videos are being shared on social media. Police will want to see them, police will be asking people directly to give them their videos. Police will want to look at the Close Circuit Television which is around here. People will want to know who was here who should not be here. We are also being told that this explosion happened in the foyer of the arena. It isa happened in the foyer of the arena. It is a place where Hundreds And Thousands of people leave the arena after the concert has finished. It is also a place where people stop and they can buy the programmes, the scarves , and they can buy the programmes, the scarves, the t shirts. One question which still needs answering is that although there is security going into the concert, people told me that their bags were searched, what sort of security was there once the concert had finished . Wants thousands of people had to leave and the doors opened. Were people still checked going in. I am a parent, the doors opened. Were people still checked going in. Iam a parent, i picked up my children at this venue before. You see the doors open and you see people come out. People will wa nt to you see people come out. People will want to know what the security was like after the concert as well. We have been hearing from Ariana Grandes manager, who has set our hearts are broken following the Terrorist Attack after her gig at the Manchester Arena. It just happened literally in the minutes after Ariana Grande had finished her encore. Her manager goes on to say we mourn the lives of children and loved ones taken by this cowardly act. Our correspondent sarah corker. A reminder that children are very likely to feature in the Casualty S List here. And a reminder that Ariana Grande was on a european tour, the very nature of her act and her appeal, it does appeal to younger children, two teenagers. A lot of parents will have taken their children to see this gig. For many it will be their first concert have gone to. Manchester arena is a huge indoor venue. It is the biggest indoor venue. It is the biggest indoor arena in europe. Indoor venue. It is the biggest indoorarena in europe. It indoor venue. It is the biggest indoor arena in europe. It has a capacity of almost 20,000. So for many this will be a night that they have looked forward to, that has just turned out in the most terrible way. And as you have heard from our correspondent, who has spoken to a lot of people on the ground In Manchester, this will be very traumatic for a lot of teenagers. Many who may have been 16 or 17 and have gone on the own with their friends, now trying to get hold of their parents, trying to get home and away from this nightmare. As we are speaking, Ariana Grande has tweeted broken, from the bottom of my heart. I am so, so sorry. I dont have the words. Just echoing what many people are feeling the night. And we heard quite quickly that she had got out ok from the arena. I think she had only finished performing a couple of minutes before this explosion happened. And she has obviously now had time to reflect. It was her gig on her european tour. It is the last thing you would expect to happen. Such a big venue, as well. They would have plans for an evacuation of this scale. But from the images we have seen, and the speed that this all happened, it was quite chaotic. People running for the doors, and some inevitably it will be treated for crush injuries. And it all happened extremely quickly. And this is an ongoing situation. There is now a huge counterterrorism operation going on, notjust In Manchester, but top Security Officials and advisers will be meeting with the Prime Minister, and in the next couple of hours, to not only look at the response to this, but also to go through what evidence they have got so far. What do they know about this device, if it was a device. We dont exactly know what caused the explosion at this time. So they will be going through the evidence that they have, and then looking at how do we respond to this, do we need to increase the Terror Threat level here in the uk . And we have also seen governments across the world, we have heard from the us. They will also be looking at their own security, and intelligence. And this will be the biggest Terrorist Attack in the uk since 7 7, back in 2005. Biggest Terrorist Attack in the uk since 7, back in 2005. We have heard that, just looking at the number of people caught up in this, 19 people we know so far have been killed in this explosion, 59 injured, being treated at six hospitals across manchester. And Security Services, they do plan for this, because they have too, because there is that constant threat, u nfortu nately, there is that constant threat, unfortunately, in the world we live in at the moment, where they do have to continually monitor intelligence shared by governments and Security Forces across the world. They are co nsta ntly forces across the world. They are constantly monitoring this, and u nfortu nately, constantly monitoring this, and unfortunately, some do slip through the net. You cant stop everything. We also spoke a little earlier to alan andrews, who heard the explosion. Very lucky, very lucky indeed. Are now seeing everything unfold, it is very scary, just thinking about it. Asi very scary, just thinking about it. As i normally go out by that exit as well, when i go to concerts, and i am normally at the front. So i could have been there myself. So effectively the way to the exit was at the back of the concert hall. Just headed back towards the Train Station, yes, that is the main kind of exit to get out. Because obviously to get to the train, to get the last train home. It is definitely purposed to go there, because that is where the people would have been. And there would have been people that . Yes, it would have been people that . Yes, it would have been people that . Yes, it would have been a peaktime on the front was walking out at about 10 35 p. M. , just after she finished or a few minutes after. And you mentioned that people were saying there were different reasons, they were in entirely sure where the had come from, but they were just running as fast as they could. Did hear one or two girls screaming, they must have seen it, and other people, i wasnt too sure. They were trying to hopefully your mac obviously protect their kids, because there were a lot of kids. I was going to ask you, whether lots of teenagers and Young Children with their parents, as well . Yes, that was the majority of the crowd, a lot of them waiting outside and worrying when i came out, as well. And when you left, was anybody there to help people leave in an orderly fashion, or was it just. Yes, the stewards did a good job. Some of them were just following the protocol been told, directing everyone out that way, and to be fairto directing everyone out that way, and to be fair to them they did a good job in the circumstances at the time. And as we were walking out, the alarm went off saying please evacuate asap, so that is when you knew it was something serious. Luckily i was already on the street then. And dont forget you can stay com pletely and dont forget you can stay completely up to date with everything on the bbc website. There Isa Everything on the bbc website. There is a live page following all the Important Information from the police and the officials. It has regular updates of the casualties as well as well as eyewitness accounts. Before we go, lets give you a reminder of our developing story this hour. Police in the english city of manchester say at least 19 people have been killed and 50 others injured in an explosion at a pop concert. They said it was being treated as a terrorist incident. Witnesses said the american singer Ariana Grande had just finished her performance at the Manchester Arena when a huge blast took place in the foyer, shaking the building. Hello. Welcome to bbc news, with david eades and tom donkin. We start with our Breaking News from the north west of england. Police say at least 19 people have been killed and more than 50 others injured in an explosion at Manchester Arena. Theyre treating it as a terrorist incident. Witnesses reported hearing a loud bang in the venue at the end of an Ariane Grande concert. Eyewitnesses reported nuts and bolts strewn around the floor and the smell of explosives. Britains Prime Minister theresa said her thoughts are with
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