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Home / World

Ariana Grande fans show the moments after Manchester concert attack

news.com.au
23 May, 2017 04:16 AM4 mins to read

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The attack at the Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena saw 22 killed and more than 800 injured. Suicide bomber, Salman Ramadan Abedi was killed instantly.

Warning: Graphic images

A witness who says she left "seconds before the last song" at the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester said she saw the bomb go off "metres in front of me" and has posted a graphic description of the aftermath.

Posting photos of her blood stained hair and clothing, Abby Mullen said she was covered in people's skin, blood and faeces.

Read more:
• Live: Police confirm 22 dead after explosions at Ariana Grande concert
• Fears for missing relatives after explosion
• Man describes scene as 'carnage everywhere' after fatal explosion
• Manchester blast: What you need to know

She said victims were running around her with "body parts and bits of skin missing", and despite the graphic nature of her post, she wanted people to see "how cruel the world is".

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"I'm still finding bits of god knows what in my hair. I am fine and back in my hotel I hope everyone involved and in front of me is okay.

"We are being told it was a balloon/sound system but I can assure you it was not. You never ever expect these things too happen too you but this proves it can happen too anybody.

"That sound, the blood & those who where running around clueless with body parts & bits of skin missing will not be leaving my mind any time soon or the minds of those involved.

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"I understand these images might be upsetting however I feel as though people need too be shown just how cruel this world really is."

It's just one of the graphic scenes to come from terrified attendees of the Ariana Grande concert, capturing the initial moments after the attack, and the subsequent carnage and panic following.

In one scene captured inside the arena, screams ring throughout Manchester Arena as panic begins to spread across the scene and crowds begin to rush for the doors.

At least 19 people have died and about 50 others injured after reports of the explosion at an Ariana Grande gig in the UK.

Discover more

World

Live: Terror at UK teen concert - 22 dead in blasts

23 May 12:42 AM
World

Concertgoers killed at Ariana Grande concert

22 May 11:10 PM
Entertainment

Ariana Grande 'okay' after blast at Arena

23 May 12:05 AM
World

Concert blast: What you need to know

23 May 12:11 AM
Image posted by Abby Mullen last month. Photo / via Facebook
Image posted by Abby Mullen last month. Photo / via Facebook
Posted by Abby Mullen. Photo / via Facebook
Posted by Abby Mullen. Photo / via Facebook
Posted by Abby Mullen. Photo / via Facebook
Posted by Abby Mullen. Photo / via Facebook

Scared for their lives, crowds started "running full speed to the exit" when they heard a loud explosion immediately after the American pop singer finished her final song for the night.

As crowds were exiting, the explosion went off, and "security were screaming at us to get out".

One eyewitness, who was waiting in the foyer close to the merchandise stands outside the arena door, said he heard Ariana Grande play her last song, and as people streamed out of the venue, he saw a "big flash", felt a "whoosh of air" and began to smell smoke.

He looked in the direction and saw "people laying down on the floor".

Others described a "big bang" and after someone in the crowd shouted "it's a bomb", the confusion became a chaotic crush to get out.

"Me and my daughter was on the stairs, somebody climbed on top of us. I had to pull [my daughter] out by her arm," one mother, Vicky, told ITV News.

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EXPLOSION AT MANCHESTER ARENA AND EVERYONE RAN OUT SO SCARY😭 pic.twitter.com/pJbUBoELtE

— hannah (@hannawwh) May 22, 2017

Manchester Police say the scene is currently being treated as a terrorist incident until police know otherwise. In a tweet police confirmed at least 22 had died and 59 others were injured at Manchester Arena where the gig had just finished.

Video footage captures the scale of the chaos as thousands of terrified fans run for the nearest exit.

An 18-year-old who was at the concert and visibly shaken, said she "ran for my life", despite arena staff assuring her that a balloon had gone off inside.

"They told us to be calm, then ambulances came and we realised it wasn't a balloon."

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