Up until the evening of Monday, May 22, it seemed that the “Dangerous Woman” concert tour of pop idol Ariana Grande was going off without any hitches. Starting back on February 7, she had gone across North America and eventually through European venues before the fateful concert over at the Manchester Arena. At just past 10 PM local time, shortly after the concert had wrapped up and the audience was filing out, the arena was rocked by one, then two Explosions that left a number of people dead and wounded. Authorities classified the incident as a terror attack right off the bat.

Two big bangs

According to eyewitnesses, the first explosion -- which did the most damage -- happened at the Manchester Arena foyer around 10:35 PM. This loud blast caused a mild stampede as those who had come to see Ariana Grande in concert were leaving the premises as quickly as possible. Multiple people recorded footage of their frantic flight shortly after the explosion, with panic plain from the surrounding people as they vacated the venue. Police arriving on the scene counted 19 concertgoers who were killed on the spot by the explosion at the main corridor, along with 50 others who suffered various degrees of injury.

Not long afterwards, there was another explosion in the area at 1:35 AM BST, at the Cathedral Gardens not far from Manchester Arena.

This time it was a controlled detonation by the Manchester police bomb squad done to a suspicious package believed to be a bomb that was found on the scene. Once the package was detonated, however, an inspection of the remains revealed that it was merely a pile of clothing that has been left behind in the rush. Police have since warned people to stay away from the arena.

Tweets of support

By the time the explosions occurred Ariana Grande had already departed from the venue. This show at Manchester Arena was the first of her three scheduled performance dates in the UK. As ambulances began converging on the scene, police moved to close off all public transportation into the area while the incident was sorted out.

They also announced on Twitter that they were treating the explosions as a terror attack first, until proven otherwise.

Meanwhile, other important figures and celebrities have sounded off on the Manchester bombing after Grande’s concert. Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn sent his thoughts to the victims on social media; as did Nicki Minaj, who collaborated with Ariana on one single, "Side to Side," on the “Dangerous Woman” album.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED