Manchester death toll reaches 22; ISIS claims responsibility

MANCHESTER, England —The death toll climbed to 22 and the Islamic State claimed responsibility Tuesday following the suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in the heart of this northern city, authorities said.
ISIS said one of its members ignited the blast as the American singer's concert was ending at about 10:33 p.m. local time Monday, SITE Intelligence Group reported. Greater Manchester Police said children were among the victims, and that the attacker died at the scene.

Fifty-nine others were injured in the blast, police said. They said they believed one man carried out the attack, but authorities were trying to confirm whether he was working alone or as part of a network. 

A 23-year-old man was arrested in South Manchester in connection with the attack, but no other details were immediately released.

Prime Minister Theresa May said authorities believe they know the attacker's identity, but did not name him. She will travel to Manchester to meet with police, the mayor and emergency services Tuesday.
"It is now beyond doubt that the people of Manchester, and of this country, have fallen victim to a callous terrorist attack – an attack that targeted some of the youngest people in our society with cold calculation," May said outside her London office at 10 Downing Street.

With regards to last night’s incident at the Manchester arena, we can confirm we have arrested a 23-year-old man in South Manchester.

— G M Police (@gmpolice) May 23, 2017

The relatives of dozens of missing concert-goers, many of them children, circulated their pictures on Twitter and Facebook in a bid to find them. Thousands of people traveled to Manchester for the concert.

Dawn Price said she was attending the concert with her daughter and their friends. "I'm really shaken and can't process what happened as so many people were there with children," she said. 

"There was a big bang just as it finished and everyone started to run back into the arena. Then seconds later people started to run back in from another exit."

An explosion struck an Ariana Grande concert attended by thousands of young music fans in Manchester, northern England, killing at least 19 people and injuring dozens in what police said was being treated as a terrorist attack. (May 23) AP

Laura Ramsden, from Radcliffe, was one of the last people evacuated from the Manchester Arena. 

Ramsden, who was with two friends, suffers from cerebral palsy and was in disabled seating with her electric wheelchair.

"The concert had finished and we were getting ready to leave and then there was a huge bang and a strong burning smell," she said. "People started running and shouting that there was a bomb. People were getting shoved and pushed everywhere."

She said that eventually stewards carried her down the stairs.

"I saw a number of people with blood coming from the head and running down their faces," she said.

The Manchester Arena, where the blast occurred, is one of the largest concert venues in Europe with a capacity of 21,000.

“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," said Chief Constable Ian Hopkins, of Greater Manchester Police. 

"We believe the attacker was carrying an improvised explosive device which he detonated causing this atrocity."

He said a "complex and wide ranging investigation" was underway.

President Trump, who is currently on a trip to Israel, condemned the “evil losers” responsible for the attack, which he said preyed on “innocent children.”

"I won’t call them monsters because they would like that term. They would think that’s a great name. I will call them from now on losers, because that’s what they are. 

They’re losers. And we’ll have more of them. But they’re losers. Just remember that," he said.

We stand in absolute solidarity with the people of the United Kingdom. pic.twitter.com/u54jWT7v6Q

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 23, 2017

The U.S. State Department issued a statement of condolence to victims and their families. "We are working closely with the British government and supporting their efforts to investigate and respond to this attack," the statement said.

President Trump on Manchester: "So many young, beautiful innocent people living and enjoying their lives murdered by evil losers in life."

— Gregory Korte (@gregorykorte) May 23, 2017

The first victim was named by British media as Georgina Callander, 18, from Tarleton in Lancashire, northern England. The Park Inn, one of the hotels directly across from the Manchester Arena, was still filled with families checking out Tuesday, most of them mothers accompanied by one or two young girls.

Tasleem Kamal, from the northern city of Leeds, and her husband were among those who stayed at the Park Inn. The couple hadn't originally planned to attend the show with their daughter and niece but bought tickets at the last minute and went in about halfway through.

"At the end of the show when I heard a big bang I turned to my husband and said, 'Oh, it must be one of the fireworks they sometimes do at the end,' we thought that it was part of Ariana's act," Kamal said.

"But we waited and within 30 seconds we could smell smoke and burning and realized something was wrong. It was just after she finished her final song."

Following the attack, Grande tweeted: “Broken. from the bottom of my heart, i am so so sorry. i don't have words.”

Pictured: First victim of Manchester attack https://t.co/eBuCrfJrNu

— Evening Standard (@standardnews) May 23, 2017

The incident was the worst terror attack in Britain since the suicide bombings on London's transport network of July 2005 that killed 52 people and injured hundreds. The attackers were inspired by Islamist extremism.

Monday's bombing follows a terror attack near the Houses of Parliament in central London on March 22 that killed five people. The attacker, Khalid Masood, 52, rammed his car into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge before fatally stabbing a police officer. Police believe Masood acted alone and was motivated by Islamist extremism.

All campaigning ahead of the June 8 general election has been suspended. broken.
from the bottom of my heart, i am so so sorry. i don't have words. Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) May 23, 2017

Manchester has been targeted by terrorism before. The Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) detonated a truck bomb in central Manchester's main shopping area in June 1996, destroying the landmark Arndale shopping center and injuring 200 people.

"Although it is not the first time Manchester has suffered in this way, it is the worst attack the city has experienced, and the worst ever to hit the north of England," May said.