LIVE REPORT: Police confirm 22 dead and over 50 injured following incident at Ariana Grande Manchester concert

Police have confirmed fatalities and injuries following an explosion at Ariana Grande’s concert at Manchester Arena tonight (23 May).

Greater Manchester Police said there are a “number of confirmed fatalities and others injured”.

According to BBC, witnesses reported hearing a “huge bang” near the ticket office of the arena. Greater Manchester Police have since tweeted urging to people to stay out of the area. The cause of the explosion is unknown.

The incident took place after the performance had finished. The Guardian are reporting that one fan at the concert said an explosion hit the venue as fans were leaving the building.

Armed police are now surrounding the venue and moving members of the public out of the area. National Rail said all lines in and out of Manchester Victoria station were closed.

Twitter users are using the hashtags #Manchester, #ManchesterArena and #roomformanchester to offer homes and beds for those who can’t get home.

According to a Manchester Evening News correspondent, a bomb disposal unit has arrived outside the Manchester Arena. A BBC news reporter has reported that taxi drivers are offering free rides to anyone in need.

Update: The North West counter-terrorism unit has said it is treating the incident as a possible terrorist attack.

Update: Greater Manchester Police have just confirmed that 19 people have been confirmed dead with over 50 injured.

Update: According to a statement from Manchester Arena, the incident took place outside the venue in a “public space”.

We will update this story as we learn more.

Update [23 May – 7:32AM]: The death toll has now risen to 22, with a further 59 injured and receiving treatment. The man responsible for the detonating the explosion died at the scene; he is being reported as a suicide bomber. Read a full statement from Chief constable Ian Hopkins, released just after 7am, below:

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.

Families and many young people were out to enjoy a concert at the Manchester Arena and have lost their lives. Our thoughts are with those 22 victims that we now know have died, the 59 people who have been injured and their loved ones. We continue to do all we can to support them. They are being treated at eight hospitals across Greater Manchester.

This is a fast-moving investigation and we have significant resources deployed to both the investigation and the visible patrols that people will see across Greater Manchester as they wake up to news of the events last night. This will include armed officers as people would expect. More than 400 officers have been involved in the operation during the night.

To remind you, we were called at 10.33pm to reports of an explosion at the Manchester Arena at the conclusion of an Ariana Grande concert. More than 250 calls came in and emergency services were very quickly on scene. Emergency numbers have been established for anyone who is concerned for loved ones who may not have returned home: 0161 856 9400 or 0161 856 9900.

We have been treating this as a terrorist incident and we believe that while 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 to share names. There is a complex and wide-ranging investigation under way.

Our 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.

Ariana Grande, who was not hurt in the blast, has posted a message on Twitter:

Update [23 May – 12:09PM]: Greater Manchester Police have arrested a 23-year-old man in South Manchester in connection to this incident.

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