Explosion at UK concert kills at least 19

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SCRawl
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Explosion at UK concert kills at least 19

Post by SCRawl »

From Reuters, it looks like a suicide bomber could be responsible. Early times for this incident:
Reuters wrote:At least 19 people were killed in a blast at a concert in the English city of Manchester on Monday where U.S. singer Ariana Grande had been performing and two U.S. officials said a suicide bomber was suspected in the explosion.

British police said the incident, in which at least 50 people were injured, was being treated as a terrorist incident. Police carried out a controlled explosion on a suspect device several hours after the blast.

Police said they responded to reports of an explosion shortly after 10:35 pm (2135 GMT) at the arena, which has a capacity for 21,000 people, and where the U.S. singer had been performing to an audience that included many children.

If confirmed as a terrorism incident, it would be the deadliest attack in Britain by militants since four British Muslims killed 52 people in suicide bombings on London's transport system in July 2005.

The blast also came two and half weeks ahead of an election in which Prime Minister Theresa May is predicted by opinion polls to win a large majority.

A witness who attended the concert said she felt a huge blast as she was leaving the arena, followed by screaming and a rush by thousands of people trying to escape the building. A video posted on Twitter showed fans, many of them young, running from the venue.

"We were making our way out and when we were right by the door there was a massive explosion and everybody was screaming," concert-goer Catherine Macfarlane told Reuters.

"It was a huge explosion - you could feel it in your chest. It was chaotic. Everybody was running and screaming and just trying to get out."

A spokesman for Ariana Grande, 23, said the singer was "okay".

Manchester Arena, the largest indoor arena in Europe, opened in 1995 and is a popular concert and sporting venue.

Suicide bomber suspected in Manchester blast: two U.S. officials
Britain is on its second-highest alert level of "severe" meaning an attack by militants is considered highly likely.

British counter-terrorism police have said they are making on average an arrest every day in connection with suspected terrorism.

In March, a British-born convert to Islam plowed a car into pedestrians on London's Westminster Bridge, killing four people, before stabbing to death a police officer who was on the grounds of parliament. He was shot dead at the scene.

(Reporting by Alistair Smout; Writing by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Sandra Maler, Toni Reinhold)
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Re: Explosion at UK concert kills at least 19

Post by Broomstick »

Given that it was a stadium with, what, around 20,000 capacity and a crowd rushing for the exits I'm happy that there wasn't a crowd-crush disaster on top of the causalities from the explosion.

I am heartily sick of suicide bombers (if that's what this was).
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Re: Explosion at UK concert kills at least 19

Post by Crazedwraith »

Not the kind of thing you want to wake up to. :(

And what a target to hit a stadium of teenge girls.
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Re: Explosion at UK concert kills at least 19

Post by Zaune »

Broomstick wrote:Given that it was a stadium with, what, around 20,000 capacity and a crowd rushing for the exits I'm happy that there wasn't a crowd-crush disaster on top of the causalities from the explosion.

I am heartily sick of suicide bombers (if that's what this was).
Not a stadium, technically; it's an indoor concert venue that sometimes hosts basketball games or boxing matches. Which means we're even luckier there wasn't a crush, because stadiums tend to be better-equipped to deal with those. Not to mention Manchester's two most notable stadiums are designed for crowds of over three times the size of this one.

And the last radio news bulleting I heard said that Greater Manchester Police believe the bomber died in the explosion; whether that means a suicide attack per se or if the bomb went off prematurely is anyone's guess.
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Re: Explosion at UK concert kills at least 19

Post by Wild Zontargs »

Zaune wrote:whether that means a suicide attack per se or if the bomb went off prematurely is anyone's guess.
Well, considering that people have turned up a post on a jihadist board made the day before the attack with the supposed attacker saying he "will throw [his] handmade grenade in there!", and that a now-suspended twitter account tweeted out an ISIS flag and #manchesterarena before the attack, then said "WE HAVE MORE", I'm leaning towards the idea that the bomber fucked up.
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Re: Explosion at UK concert kills at least 19

Post by Simon_Jester »

The former is strong evidence in favor of this conclusion. The latter, not so much, I think.
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Re: Explosion at UK concert kills at least 19

Post by Wild Zontargs »

Bomber identified
LONDON -- CBS News confirmed Tuesday that the man who blew himself up the previous night at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, was 23-year-old Salman Abedi, who was known to British authorities prior to the attack.

In a generic statement posted online, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) claimed responsibility for Abedi's suicide bomb attack, which left 22 people dead, including children, at one of the entrances to the Manchester Arena.

Officials said one man was arrested Tuesday in southern Manchester in connection with the attack, and urged people to avoid the center of the city as operations continued. Police and British Prime Minister Theresa May made it clear the focus of the investigation was to determine whether the bomber "was acting alone, or was part of a wider group."

ISIS issued its claim of responsibility in a brief, generic statement that did not identify the bomber and appeared to get some of the facts of the attack wrong. It claimed a "caliphate soldier managed to place a number of devices among a gathering of crusaders in Manchester, and detonated them."

Officials say there was only one explosion, and there have been no indications that other devices were discovered at or near the arena.

U.S. intelligence sources told CBS News they were exercising caution on the early claim of responsibility from ISIS. Authorities are still looking into whether it was a killer who acted alone or who might have had some level of support from the terror network. U.S. intelligence officials were offering assistance in the investigation, as is standard practice in any case involving a close ally.

ISIS has repeatedly called for its supporters in the West to attack "soft targets" like sports events and concerts in any way possible.

Previous attacks in Europe and the U.S. have been claimed by individuals who support ISIS and have made contact with its members, but who were not directly supported or guided by the terror network.

Manchester police confirmed the arrest of a 23-year-old man in the southern part of the city on Tuesday morning. They also said there was at least one controlled explosion carried out at the scene of a raid.

The suspect taken into custody on Tuesday was not identified, but police said the arrest was linked to the bombing. Witnesses said the man was smiling as he was apprehended.

The bomb was designed to kill and maim as many as possible; many of the survivors suffered shrapnel wounds and ball bearings were found at the scene.

There was security at the concert, but the bomber apparently didn't try to get into the venue, instead blowing himself up in an entrance foyer area as concertgoers flooded out of the arena. Prime Minister May said the attacker had deliberately chosen "his time and place to cause maximum carnage" in the young crowd.
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Re: Explosion at UK concert kills at least 19

Post by EnterpriseSovereign »

Of the victims named so far one was as young as eight, the venue has been described as the softest of soft targets.
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Re: Explosion at UK concert kills at least 19

Post by Eternal_Freedom »

I damn near had a heart attack listening the radio at work today. When they announced the name of one of the victims, an 18 year old student named Georgie (I can't recall the surname sadly).

My cousin is 18, she's called Georgie and is in Manchester. That was...terrifying. And I feel slightly horrible for being grateful when I realised it wasn't my cousin but someone else.
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Re: Explosion at UK concert kills at least 19

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With every attack, trust between non-muslim and muslim is being eroded away.
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Re: Explosion at UK concert kills at least 19

Post by Napoleon the Clown »

That's their goal, Ray.
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Re: Explosion at UK concert kills at least 19

Post by Dartzap »

Just to add a special cherry of incompetence on the trifle of tragedy

Thanks, Yanks
US officials disclosed fresh details of the investigation into the Manchester bombing to journalists within hours of Amber Rudd warning them to stop the leaking.

The steady drip of details from the US – as well as from France – is hampering the investigation by British police, who are trying to control the release of information for operational reasons.

The home secretary reflected the frustration and dismay of the UK security services in a series of interviews on Wednesday morning. She described the leaks as “irritating” and said she had made it clear to the US that it should not happen again.

However, within hours, American reporter Richard Engel of NBC tweeted details not released by the UK. Engel said US intelligence officers told him family members of the the killer, Salman Abedi, had warned UK security officials about him and had described him as dangerous.

Engel also reported that US intelligence officials said Abedi had a bank card in his pocket showing his name, and his identity had been confirmed by facial recognition. He added that Abedi probably had help in making a “big and sophisticated bomb”.

The intelligence community has long been uncomfortable about revelations from its recent past made in books and articles, but the release of details of a live investigation on the scale of those by the US and France is a relatively new phenomenon.

It comes on top of Donald Trump’s release of intelligence to Russia that had been passed on by Israel, which had obtained it from an Arab country.

The leak of the British information, as well as demonstrating a lack of respect for a US ally at an emotional time, will have hindered the investigation, where it is essential to control the release of details.

UK counter-terrorism specialists said this week they needed to keep secret the name of a perpetrator or suspect for at least 36 hours to ensure there was an element of surprise in approaching relatives, friends and others.

American officials in Washington briefed US journalists early on Tuesday about the number of dead, confirming that it was a suicide bombing and – hours later – the name of the killer. The UK had not been planning to release the name on Tuesday.

The UK’s reluctance to identify the assailant was evident because it took hours after his name was circulating in the US media before Greater Manchester police confirmed it.

Rudd said: “The British police have been very clear that they want to control the flow of information in order to protect operational integrity, the element of surprise. So it is irritating if it gets released from other sources and I have been very clear with our friends that should not happen again.”


Although her language was mild, it is rare for a UK politician to issue such a rebuke to the Americans.

Adding an image of western security services as uncoordinated and amateurish, the French interior minister, Gérard Collomb, then told French television on Wednesday that Abedi had been in Libya and possibly Syria, information UK police had not disclosed.

Asked about the French leak, Rudd said: “We need to let the operation continue and for the intelligence services and the police to make what investigations they can. Any new information is of course welcome for them, but I’m not going to comment any further on the actual operation.”

UK security professionals are almost certainly appalled by what has happened, as will be their counterparts in the US and France.
Time to call it the Colander Intelligence Service, I guess.
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Re: Explosion at UK concert kills at least 19

Post by EnterpriseSovereign »

Unsurprisingly the threat level has been raised from "Severe", to "Critical". The belief is that this guy was acting as part of a group, the goal now is to find the rest of them. They're calling in the army to provide security.
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Re: Explosion at UK concert kills at least 19

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EnterpriseSovereign wrote:Unsurprisingly the threat level has been raised from "Severe", to "Critical". The belief is that this guy was acting as part of a group, the goal now is to find the rest of them. They're calling in the army to provide security.
I must admit to being troubled greatly by the deployment of troops outside No10.They didn't do it when that arsehole knifed people outside the Elizabeth Tower. The bombing was 200 miles away. Only difference is our delightful election. It stinks of opportunism by May.
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Re: Explosion at UK concert kills at least 19

Post by Captain Seafort »

Dartzap wrote:I must admit to being troubled greatly by the deployment of troops outside No10.They didn't do it when that arsehole knifed people outside the Elizabeth Tower. The bombing was 200 miles away. Only difference is our delightful election. It stinks of opportunism by May.
Well, last time it was pretty obviously a lone crackpot using what was readily available. This time it's a bunch of crackpots, they're a lot better organised and equipped, and the plod aren't sure they've got all of them.
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Re: Explosion at UK concert kills at least 19

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Napoleon the Clown wrote:That's their goal, Ray.
And it's a war we're really losing.
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Re: Explosion at UK concert kills at least 19

Post by streetad »

Dartzap wrote:
EnterpriseSovereign wrote:Unsurprisingly the threat level has been raised from "Severe", to "Critical". The belief is that this guy was acting as part of a group, the goal now is to find the rest of them. They're calling in the army to provide security.
I must admit to being troubled greatly by the deployment of troops outside No10.They didn't do it when that arsehole knifed people outside the Elizabeth Tower. The bombing was 200 miles away. Only difference is our delightful election. It stinks of opportunism by May.
I don't think that's fair. Doing something as fundamentally un-British as deploying actual soldiers to popular tourist attractions in central London isn't a decision that would be taken lightly. I can't see how it would suddenly persuade a bunch of non-Tory voters to vote Tory, either.
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Re: Explosion at UK concert kills at least 19

Post by Kinyo »

GMP has suspended information sharing with the US in regards to this attack.

Manchester attack: Police 'not sharing information with US'
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Re: Explosion at UK concert kills at least 19

Post by Minischoles »

streetad wrote:
Dartzap wrote:
EnterpriseSovereign wrote:Unsurprisingly the threat level has been raised from "Severe", to "Critical". The belief is that this guy was acting as part of a group, the goal now is to find the rest of them. They're calling in the army to provide security.
I must admit to being troubled greatly by the deployment of troops outside No10.They didn't do it when that arsehole knifed people outside the Elizabeth Tower. The bombing was 200 miles away. Only difference is our delightful election. It stinks of opportunism by May.
I don't think that's fair. Doing something as fundamentally un-British as deploying actual soldiers to popular tourist attractions in central London isn't a decision that would be taken lightly. I can't see how it would suddenly persuade a bunch of non-Tory voters to vote Tory, either.
It isn't so much that they want to, but kind of have to - the Tories have cut so many police officers (20,000 at last count) that the police are severely over stretched. The army has been deployed so that the armed police can be taken off to do other things, because there is quite literally not enough officers in London to both guard important areas and conduct the anti-terror operations.
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Re: Explosion at UK concert kills at least 19

Post by EnterpriseSovereign »

Queen meets young Manchester bomb victims on visit to children's hospital and calls attack 'very wicked'.
In a few simple words during a visit to the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital to meet the young victims of the terrorist bombing, the Queen encapsulated the horror of an attack that has left the nation reeling.

“It’s dreadful, very wicked, to target that sort of thing,” the Queen said to 14-year-old schoolgirl Evie Mills, who she met lying on her hospital bed with a teddy by her side, and a blanket shrouding her injured chest and legs.

The Queen later added as she toured the children's ward viewing at first hand the carnage of Monday night's attack: “the awful thing was that everyone was so young.”

During her 65 years of reign, the Queen has occasionally made visits to hospital to help lead the nation in moments of national grieving.

She did so after the 7/7 terror attacks in London and also to meet servicemen and women injured fighting for their country.

But never have so many children been among the victims. There are 14 inpatients remaining at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital following the attack, including five in critical care.

Among those continuing to recover from their injuries in the hospital was Millie Robson, 15, from Co Durham, who was still wearing her Ariana Grande concert t-shirt that she had specially chosen for the concert at the Manchester Arena.
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