The Greater Manchester Police announced at a press conference Tuesday morning that they believe a lone man using an improvised explosive device conducted the deadly bombing at Ariana Grande’s concert at Manchester Arena Monday night, The Guardian reports. The bomber has been identified by authorities as 22-year-old Salman Abedi, The New York Times reports. He died at the scene. 22 people, including children, were killed, and 59 others wounded in the attack. Authorities are investigating whether the bomber was part of a wider network. On Tuesday morning, the Greater Manchester Police tweeted that a 23-year-old man had been arrested in connection with the attack; on Wednesday, they said three people had been arrested as a result of raids in south Manchester. As of Thursday morning, eight men are in custody following searches connected to the attack, police said. The 23-year-old arrested was the bomber’s brother, the BBC reports. On Wednesday morning, the UK government raised the terror threat level to “critical,” indicating that more attacks may be imminent.
Police said they were treating the attack as “a terrorist incident.” The city held a vigil for the victims last night at Albert Square in Manchester. Police believe they have identified all of the victims, and the first victims’ names have now been released. Among the 59 people hospitalized, twelve were younger than 16, according to David Ratcliffe, medical director of North West Ambulance Service. Police have asked the public to avoid the city center while emergency services continue to work at the scene. Prime Minister Theresa May said in a statement that the people of Manchester had fallen victim to a “callous terrorist attack.”
Grande herself was not injured. On Monday night, she tweeted “broken. from the bottom of my heart, i am so so sorry. i don’t have words.”
A GoFundMe campaign for the has been started to help the victims and their families. Find it here. Find more pages for the family of Georgina Callandar, Chris Parker, and the family of John Atkinson.
