Last updated: 4.30pm, 23rd May, 2017
Some 22 people have died and at least 59 others have been injured following an explosion at an Ariana Grande concert in the UK city of Manchester on Monday night.
Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Ian Hopkins said it is believed a man detonated an improvised explosive device outside the Manchester Arena, the largest indoor stadium in Europe, at about 10.30pm local time as the concert was finishing. The man is believed to have died in the attack.
More than 400 police officers were involved in the operation after the explosion which Chief Constable Hopkins said has been treated “as a terrorist incident”.
“This has been the most horrific incident we have had to face in Greater Manchester and one that we all hoped we would never see…” he said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with those 22 victims that we now know have died, the 59 people who have been injured and their loved ones.”
British Prime Minister Theresa May issued a statement in the aftermath of the incident, saying authorities were “working to establish the full details of what is being treated by the police as an appalling terrorist attack”.
The dead are believed to have included children. The injured have been taken to eight hospitals.
A spokesman for the 23-year-old singer has confirmed she was not harmed. In a tweet sent later, Ms Grande said she was “broken”. “from the bottom of my heart, i am so so sorry. i don’t have words.”
Ms May’s Conservative Party has reportedly announced it will suspend campaigning for the 8th June general election in the wake of the incident.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull described the attack as “especially vile, especially criminal, especially horrific”.
