Factbox: What do we know about the attack at Ariana Grande concert in Britain?

[webfact]

Factbox: What do we know about the attack at Ariana Grande concert in Britain?

REUTERS

 

Vehicles are seen near a police cordon outside the Manchester Arena, where U.S. singer Ariana Grande had been performing, in Manchester, northern England, Britain, May 23, 2017. REUTERS/Andrew Yates

 

MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - At least 22 people, including children, were killed and 59 wounded by a suicide bomber as thousands of fans streamed out of a concert by U.S. singer Ariana Grande in the English city of Manchester on Monday.

 

Following is a Reuters summary of what we know and do not know about the incident.

 

* Death toll: British police said 22 people, including children, were killed and 59 people had been treated in hospital. A total of 60 ambulances attended the incident.

 

Many of the fans at the concert were young people. The explosion sparked panic as thousands of people rushed for the exits, witnesses told Reuters.

 

* Police said they were called at 10:33 p.m. (2133 GMT) just after a man detonated explosives among fans.

 

"We believe, at this stage, the attack last night was conducted by one man," Manchester Chief Constable Ian Hopkins said. "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."

 

More than 400 officers were involved in the operation overnight. Police appealed for the public to upload images and footage to assist them in their investigation.

 

* U.S. singer Ariana Grande had just finished the concert at the Manchester Arena, the largest indoor arena in Europe with capacity for 21,000 people, when the bomber set off his device.

 

Grande, 23, later said on Twitter: "broken. from the bottom of my heart, i am so so sorry. i don't have words."

 

* Parents hunted for missing children after the blast. Many turned to social media to seek loved ones.

 

"Everyone pls share this, my little sister Emma was at the Ari concert tonight in #Manchester and she isn't answering her phone, pls help me," said one message posted alongside a picture of a blonde-haired girl with flowers in her hair.

 

* Transport police said they believed the attack had taken place just outside the Manchester Arena near a public foyer which linked to the train station.

 

* Prime Minister Theresa May said authorities were working to establish the full details of what police were treating as "an appalling terrorist attack". She said her thoughts were with the victims and the families of those who have been affected.

 

She will hold a meeting of the government's emergency response committee.

 

* What about the June 8 election? Major British parties have all suspended campaigning.

 

* No militant group has claimed responsibility so far but Islamic State supporters celebrated on social media.

 

Twitter accounts affiliated to the jihadists have used hashtags referring to the blast to post celebratory messages, with some users encouraging similar attacks elsewhere.

 

* The blast occurred on the anniversary of the murder of soldier Lee Rigby, who was hacked to death on a London street on May 22, 2013.

 

Rigby's murder gained international notoriety when Michael Adebolajo was filmed by passers-by standing in the street with blood-soaked hands trying to justify the attack.

 

(Additional reporting by David Milliken, Alistair Smout, Kate Holton and Michael Holden in London, Mark Hosenball and John Walcott in Washington and Mostafa Hashem and Ahmed Aboulenein in Cairo; Writing by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Louise Ireland)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-05-23

 

[boomerangutang]

                I trust the Brit police to get the best handle on what happened.  They are an adept force and v. good at investigations.

[steven100]

Very tragic and cowardly act ....  Suicide bomber apparently,  their twisted ideology can rot in hell with them, muslim Islam is a wasted bunch of losers. 

Edited May 23, 2017 by steven100

[brewsterbudgen]

Very tragic and cowardly act ....  Suicide bomber apparently,  their twisted ideology can rot in hell with them, muslim Islam is a wasted bunch of losers. 

"Muslim Islam"? Is there another Islam?

[steven100]

1 minute ago, brewsterbudgen said:

"Muslim Islam"? Is there another Islam?

not sure ... but I hope not ..

[darksidedog]

I would like to hope that the IP addresses of the scum celebrating this cowardly attack can be traced. Then drop a missile on their house and see if they are still laughing, when death comes to their town.

[SOUTHERNSTAR]

It was a radical Islamic attack on the western civilization. It will not stop and they will hollow out the UK, Europe, Africa and Asia like termites eating away at a tree stump. On the outside the tree stump will look normal but if you press against it, it falls apart. While we are fighting each other about immigration they a common goal and that goal is to make the people of the world muslims.  

[stander]

Here we go again, Manchester terrorist was known to the authorities.

It seems as though every time something like this happens we run through the same, tired, playlist of denial and then an admission that, yes, an Islamic radical was involved. Then, eventually, we reach the final stage of the narrative, that’s the part where we learn that the attacker was already on the law enforcement radar.

[transam]

2 minutes ago, stander said:

Here we go again, Manchester terrorist was known to the authorities.

It seems as though every time something like this happens we run through the same, tired, playlist of denial and then an admission that, yes, an Islamic radical was involved. Then, eventually, we reach the final stage of the narrative, that’s the part where we learn that the attacker was already on the law enforcement radar.

There are probably a lot more than we think on the "radar" but it would be impossible to track/spy on them all 24/7...

[SOUTHERNSTAR]

38 minutes ago, stander said:

Here we go again, Manchester terrorist was known to the authorities.

It seems as though every time something like this happens we run through the same, tired, playlist of denial and then an admission that, yes, an Islamic radical was involved. Then, eventually, we reach the final stage of the narrative, that’s the part where we learn that the attacker was already on the law enforcement radar.

You forgot the lone wolf tag. Never mind the others that get arrested just after the attack and the millions cheering on Twitter.

[NoshowJones]

31 minutes ago, transam said:

There are probably a lot more than we think on the "radar" but it would be impossible to track/spy on them all 24/7...

What is so hard about deporting them, or if they are British born, give them so long to leave the country or be jailed.

 

[KarenBravo]

7 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

What is so hard about deporting them, or if they are British born, give them so long to leave the country or be jailed.

 

If they are British born, how do you get another country to take them? Not even Islamic countries would accept them.

[onthesoi]

17 minutes ago, SOUTHERNSTAR said:

Never mind the others that get arrested just after the attack and the millions cheering on Twitter.

The police normally arrest anyone who had any contact, flat mates, family, freinds etc as a precaution, in the vast majority of cases they are released without charge as they did nothing wrong.

 

Is cheering on twitter illegal now?

Is chanting USA USA USA after a drone strike the same or is that different?

Edited May 24, 2017 by onthesoi

[kevkev1888]

 

[transam]

11 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

What is so hard about deporting them, or if they are British born, give them so long to leave the country or be jailed.

 

The Nazi's had sympathisers in the countries they were attacking hiding in the woodwork, you will always have these folk. I know not on the same scale but look what happened a few years back in the UK with violence at football stadiums because of creeps coming out of the woodwork, the law had to regroup to stamp it out, which they did in a big way and the creeps were tried on mass and the rest crept back into the woodwork.

 

When ISIS has been taken down and shown to be not protected by the guy they think they are serving then perhaps those in the woodwork my look at things a bit differently....I hope so...

[Scott]

Posts removed.

 

[DM07]

17 hours ago, darksidedog said:

I would like to hope that the IP addresses of the scum celebrating this cowardly attack can be traced. Then drop a missile on their house and see if they are still laughing, when death comes to their town.

well...maybe that is part of the problem: death has come to "their" houses many times in the form of killer- robots, raining hell fire from the sky onto weddings and village gatherings, killing one possible Al Quaida- operative and 34 random civilians.

 

...although I understand your sentiment...

[Scott]

Off-topic posts and replies removed. 

[oxo1947]

50 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

What is so hard about deporting them

I think its a little thing called the EU court of appeal --- "It would be against his human rights to deport him--because there is no one to feed his dog if he goes"

 

Anyway I was so encouraged to see lots of Muslim women linking arms in Manchester to show solidarity against extremism. If anything is going to change Islam, it’s the opinions of their women..............................

 

 

[IMA_FARANG]

Yes there is another Moslem Islam.

Islam has many sects and divisions, as does Christianity.

Historically, more Muslims  have killed other Muslims than non-Muslims .

The Iran-Iraq war was a good example of two Islamic Sects fighting each other.

The Sunni and the <deleted> Muslim  sects have been at each other's throats for over a thousand years.

 

 

[SOUTHERNSTAR]

5 hours ago, onthesoi said:

The police normally arrest anyone who had any contact, flat mates, family, freinds etc as a precaution, in the vast majority of cases they are released without charge as they did nothing wrong.

 

Is cheering on twitter illegal now?

Is chanting USA USA USA after a drone strike the same or is that different?

I think you need to read more about what happened after the attack. ISIS supporters was cheering the death of those murdered by them on Twitter. Maybe you don't have a problem with that but I do. As for the difference between a drone strike and this type of attack, I have been clear in my remarks in the past. If a drone strike consider innocent women and children as collateral damage then there is no difference. If a drone strike only takes out combatants then there is a major difference. Due to the west degrading their standards of what is a legit target, they have lost the moral high ground. But anyone killing innocent women and children must be condemned.

 

Do you really believe that all these attackers operated in a vacuum ? Do you believe he could have made this bomb on his own without any help ? Do you believe he could smuggle in the explosives needed on his own ? Do you know he was trained in Libya ? Yes some may be lone wolves, if they use a knife on someone, but this type of attack takes more than one person.
 

[NoshowJones]

8 hours ago, KarenBravo said:

If they are British born, how do you get another country to take them? Not even Islamic countries would accept them.

Well just jail them, don't allow them to walk free in this country, if necessary build more jails.

[DUS]

Reading this thread I think the terrorists have already achieved much more than they hoped for (for now)