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At least 22 killed, 59 injured in suicide attack at Manchester Arena

At least 22 people, including children, have been killed and 59 injured in a suicide bombing at a crowded pop concert in Manchester, the most deadly attack in Britain in a decade.

The horror unfolded at about 10.30pm on Monday at the end of a concert by the American singer Ariana Grande, whose music is popular with children and teenagers.

The attack, which took place in the foyer, caused hundreds of people to flee in terror, with young people at the concert separated from their parents in the chaos. It left a scene of carnage inside the concert venue, where medics described treating wounds consistent with shrapnel injury.

Greater Manchester police have confirmed that they believe the bombing was the responsibility of one man armed with an improvised explosive device. The man, named as 22-year-old Salman Abedi, is among the dead.

Police raided a number of properties in south Manchester in the wake of the attack, including one address in Fallowfield where a controlled explosion was used to gain entry.

The chief constable, Ian Hopkins, said: “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 investigation into the attack involves the police counter-terrorism network and Britain’s domestic security service, MI5.

The death toll would make it the worst event of its kind in Britain since the 7/7 bombing in 2005, which hit London’s transport network, killing 52 people.

[The Guardian]

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