Ariana Grande concert in Manchester May 2017

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/22/world/europe/ariana-grande-manchester-police.html

First it was an unconfirmed report of an explosion, then the police called it a "serious incident," and now there are reports of fatalities.

WTF is going on?

Would any ilxor Britishes have been there?

Police statement on incident at Manchester Arena pic.twitter.com/gaKASukx9a

— G M Police (@gmpolice) May 22, 2017

ugh

wtf

from friend within earshot:

Helicopter, all trains and trams stopped, roads blocked off. First reports were that it was a giant balloon that popped and then a stampede. Unconfirmed gunfire reports now too.

Haven't found any solid information as of yet, all speculation. Multiple places saying fatalities, though.

another post from same friend on FB:

I take it back. It looks to be a giant accident with an explosion of a gas filled balloon or two. The smaller balloons might have sounded like gunfire also. There are so many tweens out there, terrified, with trains cancelled, and unable to get home.

@Conflictnews reporting "at least twenty dead" fwiw :-(

i saw a report saying 23 fatalities, but that was on twitter, no other reports i'm seeing have the same number

oh ok :/

Trains are out due to the station's proximity to the arena - unclear whether that's due to protocol or damage.

But phone footage broadcast indicates this was not an explosion within the seated arena hall itself - possibly reception/ticket office areas.

Foyer by the looks of it, indeed

There's dashcam footage doing the rounds on Twitter, from a guy waiting outside for his girlfriend. Shows a bright flash and a loud bang. Some doubts cast on authenticity because of the time stamp, which he claims is because of the BST/GMT difference.

If you look towards the left you see the explosion and hear the bang. I hope to GOD everyone is ok, and so glad Jess and Em are. #manchester pic.twitter.com/q81KHGEJ6E

— Joe Gregory (@JoeAaronGregory) May 22, 2017

I see no "bright flash" in that whatsoever tbh

7 seconds in, to the left of the screen

It's inside the building

got it, ta

looks real but the "NO" is odd

I'm still not seeing any flash, and I've replayed it 10 times. The very delayed exclamation is so weird.

The 'no' makes perfect sense imho

This, though, disgusts me:

Share this post on

Read more about these links.

'We don't know if this is the end'
Posted at 1:35

Pat Carney, the council's spokesman for the city centre, said everyone's thoughts were with the families of those killed and injured.

"It's a very easy target - a concert hall where young people are enjoying music," he said.

"The public are really co-operating by staying away from what is basically now a crime site.

"The world we live in, police and the council have emergency procedures that we practise all the time.

"Target"
"World we live in"

We klnow jack shit. Stop treating this already as a fucking "target" by anyone

But even if this turns out to be the fault of whoever thought it would be a great idea to have gigantic gas-filled balloons in proximity to fire and sparks, this guy hardmanning will probably do his future campaign some good.

2nd most popular indoor venue in the world after the Garden.

same friend:
Protocols being followed are for a terrorist incident. The bomb disposal units and evacuation of areas around the cathedral etc. lean toward not "just an accident" as was earlier reported.

Sources coming in saying suicide bomber

jeezus fuck

Parents posting on twitter about children they can't find is wrecking me rn

this is awful.

were there any ilxors at the show?

19 dead.

Sounds like a nightmare.

19 dead, 50 wounded acc to GM police

Lived here (round the corner from the MEN arena) for 8 years and the city 20. Mixture of fury and sickness and hopelessness right now.
Must have seen 500 gigs here.

People helping each other all over local Twitter/Facebook in unbelievable, extraordinary ways.
Tell you what.. i fucking love you Manchester

i'm sorry piscesx. i hope that all your loved ones are doing ok.

So sorry piscesx. Be well <3

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-40007886

jesus christ

this kind of thing is unfortunately always in the back of my mind when i go to a gig now, ever since the bataclan

I'd seen on twitter some reports of it being a nail bomb, and now that bbc link says people were treated for "shrapnel-like" injuries. Apparently the show had already ended and the concourse was full of people headed for the train.

It seems to have happened outside the venue and around 5 minutes after Ariana left the stage.

Friend of mine picked his wife and daughter up a few streets away after the show. They had got out quickly when the explosion happened and don't have an awful lot to add other than that it was total chaos and there appeared to be absolutely nothing in the way of an evacuation plan and stewards or security were not being in any way useful. They got away to get picked up by my friend and were well on their way back to Merseyside before they really found out what had happened via the radio. I don't believe they saw any casualties or they would probably have said.

Latest statement on incident at Manchester Arena pic.twitter.com/BEpLOan3dY

— G M Police (@gmpolice) May 23, 2017

so sad :'(

Fucking awful.

Yeah. My heart goes out to Manchester

It kind of gets to me that a lot of the people at this show would have been young girls/women and young queer people. Potentially for many of them it would've been their first concert.

or as ailsa's friend's experience suggests, a lot of moms accompanying their daughters to their first big show. Absolutely fucking awful.

i really do hate that this keeps happening at live music events. live music has been one of the most important things in my life.

also not looking forward to the inevitable right-wing glee

I love Manchester and I haven't been there in 25 years and we're planning to be there in a week and I can't believe this has happened. Just crushing. So sad for everyone hurt and for the city.

I really do think this is from her, rather than a rep

broken.
from the bottom of my heart, i am so so sorry. i don't have words.

— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) May 23, 2017

maybe this is a weird thing to say but i can't stop thinking about the fact that this suicide bomber apparently watched the entire ariana grande show, including the encores, before setting himself off

Did they, though?

Yeah the bombing happened in the foyer didn't it?

After a gig, a foyer is usually easy (well, easier) to get into.

The explosion appears to have happened just outside the arena? There's a concourse there that splits to the trains/trams/parking. Security at big events like this has gone way up since the Bataclan but that would be a soft target. It may also be easier to gain entry to a venue at the point when everyone else is leaving.

This is really so horrible on multiple levels. Just thinking about how many kids there would have been there. Even if they were physically completely fine that's a lot of fucked up shit for a lot of young people to have to deal with.

Test

Test

this is terrible :'(

i see, i thought it was inside.

the world is a soft target full stop. there's often talk about beefing up security inside airports, for instance, but then you just push the queue of people waiting to get inside further outside, which creates a new crowd of people, which must be protected, etc. there is just no way to totally guard against this sort of thing. how long has this gone on now? all the death and destruction in the middle east, the attacks like this, carried out by desperate people who probably have a mental illness, directed by groups bent on revenge? all the millions of refugees created by the situation in syria, which was created by the situation in iraq, which was created by the second gulf war, whose pretext was largely 9/11, which was a direct response to the FIRST gulf war in 1991? and it's the very same "rock ribbed" hardliners, the ones who insist on massive military spending and who amp up security fears that are first to tell you that we need to cut foreign aid in order to "help people back home". well guess what people back home are getting blown up at pop concerts because of the utter failure to solve the consequences of middle east conflict, conflicts the west bears massive responsibility for. how long is this going to go on?? it's been 16 years since 9/11! suicide bombing was once considered so unspeakable, so rare, now it happens with monotonous routine

sorry for obvious rant

it's not obvious at all, great post.

my obvious, glib, question is: how can this be stopped? as you rightly say, more layers of security are not the answer? how do we stop people from going out and doing this sort of shit in the first place?

That's the scary thing: I don't think we can.

Geopolitical conditions can change so that there'll be less financial incentive for it to happen.

there is one thing: proper mental health services and early-warning systems for vulnerable children

financial incentive? people aren't doing this to get rich. not in this world anyway.

Anagram, perhaps my choice of words was not the most exact: what I mean is terrorist organisations need funding like everything else, someone bankrolls these things. Even though it is true that the current strategies are less reliant on this.

Judging by the interviews the blast appears to have mainly hit people who left just before the end to beat the crowds, and presumably also some staff and relatives who were waiting to pick people up. Which is horrible and then you think what might have happened if the bomber had waited five or ten minutes longer.

not to get too trenchant about it but there's a huge financial incentive for the military-industrial complex to be on a forever-war footing too

I know very little about Ariana Grande, but hearing that she's only 23, it's horrific to think what this is going to do to her and how it's likely to impact her for the rest of her life. Look what happened to the guy from Eagles of Death Metal. Not to discount the effects on everyone else who was there but I've seen a few keyboard warriors taking cheap shots at her (not here) who seem to be overlooking the fact she's a victim too.

I think that knowing that people who died were literally only in that location because of you is going to do fucked up things to anyone who isn't a complete sociopath.

I hope Ariana Grande can take comfort in knowing that having played an extra song unplanned, many many fewer people were in the area where the bomb went off than would have been if the concert had ended five minutes earlier.

I hope Ariana Grande can take comfort in knowing that having played an extra song unplanned, many many fewer people were in the area where the bomb went off than would have been if the concert had ended five or ten minutes earlier.

Amid all of the confusion (and people playing on that confusion) in the aftermath its been nice to see people offering rooms to stay and giving blood and helping in any way they can.

Sorry this thread is broken, lots of errors in the logs. Continuing here:
Explosion at Ariana Grande concert in Manchester May 2017