23/05/2017 North West Tonight

Tonight, Manchester is a city in mourning, a vigil held here for 22

victims of a senseless attack at a teenager's pop concert.

Good evening and welcome to a special edition

Victims of the senseless terror attack.

Among them an eight-year-old girl from Lancashire watching

The school announced that Georgina Callander had been

confirmed, that she passed away last night and then Tarleton,

another one down the road, so within four miles,

The moment a suicide bomber brought chaos

and heartbreak to concert-goers on a spring evening.

This has been the most horrific incident we have ever faced in

greater Manchester and one we all hoped we would never see, families

and many young people were out to enjoy a concert at Manchester Arena

and have very sadly lost their lives.

But police have made a second arrest on a day of rapid developments

And we'll hear the stories of community spirit and kindness -

as the region pulls together to help those caught up in the attack.

The region pulls together to help those

The people of Manchester have been here in their thousands. Holding a

vigil in memory of the 22 people that were killed and the 59 who were

injured in that senseless terror attack, at a teenager's pop concert

at Manchester Arena last night. Among those who were killed, the

youngest to be named so far, eight years old, Saffie Rose Roussos,

primary schoolgirl, attending a pop concert for the very first time, she

travelled from her home in West Lancashire to Manchester, to watch

the performance. We will look back at the horrific events in the next

few minutes as well as the police investigation and the defiant spirit

of the city. But first Naomi Cornwell reports of the tragic story

of the victims. Three young music fans who went

to a concert and never came home. The first of the 22

victims to be named. The West Lancashire village

of Tarleton feels a world But the effects of last night's

attack are being felt deeply here. Today, this community is reeling

from the loss of two girls. Saffie Roussos is the youngest

victim to be named. Today, the headteacher

of her primary school described her as a beautiful little

girl who was loved by everyone and whose warmth and kindness

will be remembered fondly. The school has called

in specialist support to help Georgina Callander also

lived in the area. Friends described her

as a superfan of Ariana Grande. It's devastating, my daughter left

for school at 8:30am, and I was just praying that nobody from her school

was involved, around 11am, the school announced Georgina Callander

had been confirmed, that she had passed away last night, and then

another one in Tarlton. Came in last week, before she went on holiday, it

is horrible. Can't believe it. Georgina had been studying health

and social care in Leyland. Today, Runshaw College

offered its deepest sympathies, thoughts and prayers

to all of Georgina's family, She was a former youth player

with Bolton Wanderers football club. She was a passionate football in the

under 11s team and played for us in 2010. For her to have lost her life

in these circumstances in is just a terrible thing. Our love and our

prayers go out to her family and our support.

This afternoon, tributes were also being paid

online to John Atkinson, from Radcliffe, near Bury.

Described by friends as "an amazing young man".

Across the region, other families are still awaiting news

Among them, 15-year-old Olivia Campbell from Ramsbottom.

Alison Howe and Lisa Lees, two mums from Royton who'd gone

to pick up their children from the arena.

And 29-year-old Martin Hett from Stockport.

His family's been unable to contact him since the concert.

Anyone worried a relative could have been caught up in the attack should

call Greater Manchester Police on 0800 096 0095.

The full horror of the atrocity became apparent around

Thousands of Ariana Granda fans pouring out of the Arena.

Jubilation from the concert turned to devastation at the doorway.

It was a scene of panic and confusion, death and horror

One of the first reporters there was Clare Fallon -

17,000 people inside the arena, from the details we have been given, it

seems like this was an attack that was designed to cause maximum

devastation, designed to kill as many people as possible and I say

that because of the timing. This man didn't make it into the arena

itself, he was in the lobby, he waited for the concert to come to an

end, for people to begin pouring out to go home. Of course, some of those

people did not make it home because of the attack.

Oh, my God. What's going on?

The sound of fear filled the arena as people ran.

And the enormity of what had happened soon became clear.

Did you get a sense of what it was, it was an explosion?

Yes, definitely an explosion, because there's nuts

Yeah, there are nuts and bolts everywhere.

So you think this was some kind of deliberate...

Yes, of course it was. Not accidental.

As we were coming out the door, we just heard

And then, what, you ran? We just ran, yeah.

With so many people hurt - some of them catastrophically -

inside the arena and Victoria station,

Having seen things no adult - let alone child - should ever see,

Amelia told me she's one of the lucky ones.

Suddenly, like, something really hot just flew over us

and my mum and my sister and we all, like,

Obviously, my wife's injured and my daughter's injured.

I think she's got some cuts and stuff like that.

More ambulances arrived to treat the seemingly endless

They were taken to eight hospitals across Greater Manchester.

It was a stampede, really, so we just got out

We just saw injured people, people on the floor,

and just got as far away as we could.

And what kind of injuries did you see?

Saw one fella carrying his daughter and she were bleeding.

So we just got away, so we didn't see much.

So we just got away, so we didn't see much.

They were hysterical, these two, so I had to get out.

As parents held their children that bit closer,

I watched as one small girl was led away by a police officer.

And yet it still seems unimaginable.

The thing I have noticed in Manchester last night and in the

aftermath of the attack and also during the day today is the response

of people to each other. I have seen people walking down the street

smiling at each other. In some ways, that is an attempt to show some kind

of humanity after such an appalling atrocity was committed here last

night. Let's get this report from Peter

Marshall on the effort to help all those who were ended in yesterday's

bomb attack. They were faced with wave after wave

of seriously injured children and adults.

Eight hospitals across Greater Manchester -

300 ambulance staff - all called on to help treat

the 59 casualties taken by ambulance for treatment.

12 seriously injured under 16-year-olds went

Nine patients to Manchester Royal Infirmary.

Six to Salford Royal's trauma centre.

Five other hospitals also treated the injured.

She was at the concert last night and escaped injury -

but she was here to visit her father, who was hit

by the blast while waiting outside to collect her.

Just after the concert finished and the lights went on,

we started to walk down the stairs with my friend and we just

heard a really loud bang and all of a sudden,

They evacuated everywhere and I couldn't find my dad.

I think he's broke his leg and done something to his head.

We have had confirmation from the family members

inside that he has come out of his operation this morning

The emergency services train and train for awful

incidents such as this, yet all would agree that no level

of preparation can take away the sorrow and pain when something

Their professionalism and dedication in helping all of those caught

up in the tragedy has been highly praised.

The emergency services had tested their response to such

a terrorist incident as recently as a month ago.

We sent 60 vehicles to the site, along with highly specialised crews,

highly specialised teams, that are able to stabilise

patients at the scene, ensure they received the right

treatment at the scene before evacuation to the hospital.

Clearly, there are a number of individuals who have very,

very serious injuries and requiring intensive care and people

who are going to be in hospital for a long time.

You can imagine what injuries there might be through such a terrible,

terrible device being detonated in a crowded space

space and I wouldn't like

to detail the injuries that we saw last night.

As the police investigation has been going on throughout the day to try

to establish exactly what happened, we now know the name of the bomber.

But who help him? Where did he get his bomb? These questions have to be

answered. This is Elsmore wrote in the follow your district of

Manchester. Police activity here today has occurred here and other

parts in the south of the city. To call it a fast-moving police

investigation may seem like a cliche, but that is exactly what it

has been. This morning at 11 o'clock in Chawton, we saw a 23-year-old man

arrested. Then this afternoon in the past half-hour, police named the

bomber as Salman Abedi, who is 22, just the latest part of this

investigation. This street in Fallowfield one

of several that received an unexpected visit from arned

police this morning as the investigation into last

night's outrage gathered pace. Just heard a big, like, boom,

it was like a muffled boom and then we ran outside and everyone

on my avenue came out in a panic, because we have a lot of kids that

are in the school across the road. That bang was later confirmed

by the police to be Everyone was panicking,

I seen them all running out and there were police and forces

running down this way. The police had quickly

identified who they believed was responsible for the the attack,

but they weren't in any hurry to The police and security

services believe they know the identity of the perpetrator,

but at this stage of their investigations,

we cannot confirm his name. And the reason for that -

they needed to know whether others had

helped the killer plan his attack. To make the name public too quickly

could tip off possible accomplices. David Anthony was head

of specialist operations with Greater Manchester Police

for several years. He says the priority for his former

colleagues will be to gather as much information about the bomber

as possible and as Is he part of a network

within this country, within And so the morning saw

extensive police activity A man of 23 arrested by armed police

on a supermarket car park They dragged someone on the floor,

on the pavement, across the road. And I've seen all of them screaming,

shouting and I've seen a few of them kicking this man on the floor

and they cuffed him. Soon afterwards, more raids

in the Whalley Range At lunchtime, the Prime Minister

arrived at GMP Headquarters for a briefing from Chef Constable

Ian Hopkins and his senior officers. Then late this afternoon,

the name of the bomber I can confirm that the man suspected

of carrying out last night's atrocity is 22-year-old Salman

Abedi. However, he has not yet been

formally named by the coroner and I wouldn't wish to therefore

to comment any further So in less than 24 hours,

the police believe they know The big questions they must now

answer - how did he do it Of course, this investigation is

being headed by Greater Manchester Police and the north-west

counterterrorism unit, but they are working with counterterrorism

authorities from across the country because of course, there are try to

find out whether this man was part of a network either here in the

north-west or further afield. The police are also asking for anybody

who has video or photographs that they took in Manchester last night

to upload them to a special website that they are now running. From

Fallowfield, back to Annabel. The vigil in Albert Square started

at six o'clock this evening. So many people were here, you couldn't get

through the crowds. People are here because they wanted to be. One woman

tapped me on the shoulder looking emotional and she said, this is so

awful, isn't it? And she's right. There are no words to describe it. I

am joined now by a few people that were not involved last night, but

felt they wanted to be here tonight. Mohammed, why did you want to come?

I had to show my solidarity with the people. An overwhelming amount of

people came today. We are just unfortunate that it happened to our

town. But solidarity will defeat the ideology, because Manchester is a

bighearted town and we will come back stronger from this. This city

will recover. It has recovered before and it will again.

Definitely. When we had the IRA bombing here a few years ago, the

community got together and we will build again. You heard the speech

today. We felt motivated. Everybody was putting their arms around each

other. Everybody felt something. Abigail, at times there was some

spontaneous applause. Every race, gender and sexuality were there.

That is a good point, there are people of all faiths here. I was

born and bred in Manchester and as a Muslim, I thought it was very

important to attend and show solidarity not just for the victims

of the tragic event yesterday, but to show unity between the Muslims,

Christians, Wham! And all the faiths to show that we are all inhumanity.

Thank you very much. Last night and throughout the day, we have been

hearing incredible stories of bravery and kindness amid the terror

and the horror of last night, people just wanted to help. The people of

the city wanted to help last night. Now a report on the kindness of

Manchester. Celia's granddaughter Ella is back

home, safe in Garstang. There were kids running out of the

door crying, so we got proper scared. We all started screaming. We

moved away from the doors and there was blood splattered on the floor

and there were bags on the floor. It was Ella's first concert

without her parents, now remembered for all

the wrong reasons. Sangakkara it was sheer panic in her

voice, Mum, where are you? A bomb has gone off. At that point, you

look around and there were parents the same as me, clutching their

phones to their ears, heading towards the MEN. And there were

children running away in tears and you knew something bad had happened.

The concert was packed with children and teenagers.

Throughout the day, more tales of incredible escapes and frantic

I got thrown quite a bit. My ears popped. The noise was horrendous.

The floor shook. When I got up, there were bodies everywhere. I had

to look at people lying on the floor seriously hurt in case it was my

family. His wife and daughter escaped unharmed.

Liverpool mayor Steve Rotheram's two children were also at the gig.

They had to shelter in a hotel before a taxi driver

We saw a man with blood on his face. Then we realised it was really

serious. We could smell smoke and as we got outside, there were police

and everyone was crying. It was panic. No one understood what was

going on. People were crying, try to find out where their friends or

relatives were. So we were trying to stay calm, but really panicking at

the same time. I got the dreaded conversation that everybody fears,

and that is "Don't panic, but..." That but seemed to last a long time

she said the girls were safe. Ella has spent the day

reassuring friends. She's still scared,

but is painfully aware tonight she's We heard in the aftermath of last

night's bomb attack the stories of how the people of Manchester came

together, taxi drivers offering people free lift home if they needed

them. Hotels and homeowners opening their doors to those who needed a

room for the night. Stuart Flinders has the story of how a city refused

to be cowed by the terrorists and how it is pulling together.

But everywhere, signs that something was different.

The broadcasters from around the world...

The sense of shock, and I mentioned this very early on, is palpable.

You can feel it and how it has affected people.

I do, though, get that spirit of, look, you know,

This is dreadful, but we will work our way through this.

That sense of everybody pulling together was spontaneous.

Starting with the taxi firm determined to help

I reached out to my drivers and I asked them, right, guys,

we need to help the people of Manchester and if that means

that we have to give them free taxis, would you be up for it?

And a round of applause to my drivers, they all

This family saw things normally witnessed only on a battlefield.

The journey back to Scotland had to wait until this

afternoon while the driver recovered her composure.

She's been crying ever since yesterday, she's in shock.

Others were stranded for much of the day.

This is the back of the arena, the car park, and many of the cars

you can see their belong to people who were at the concert last

night who were expecting to drive home afterwards,

but, immediately, this area was put out of bounds and some

of those people were left stranded in Manchester.

They made their way to this hotel, where staff took pity on them

and gave them a room for the night for free.

There were moments of kindness everywhere today.

I just thought, I can't sit here and do nothing

and it was better to be out here helping the emergency

services, the journalists, the public.

These visitors from Leicester weren't going to give

It reminds you of the Arndale Centre and the bombing then.

Our first stop this morning was near the IRA bomb

in the Arndale Centre, so knowing that, it was a even more of a shock.

Did it make you think twice about carrying on with the tour?

Because in Britain, you carry on as usual.

It may be that those responsible for the atrocity claim to have acted

But Muslims at Manchester's Central Mosque were having none of it.

I've been saying this all morning and I'm saying it again,

the core definition from the noble Prophet Muhammad is that

a believer is one who keeps all other people safe.

The world has Manchester in its prayers.

Its people have responded to an evil act by refusing to be changed by it.

Stuart Flinders, BBC North West Tonight, Manchester.

One person who knows better than anybody that this city will not be

beaten and will stay strong as Councillor Pat Carney. Thank you for

joining us. I said to some people down there that the city will

recover, and it will, won't it? This is the biggest crowd I have seen in

Albert Square. People were determined to turn up to show the

families that we care about them and to show the rest of the world that

the evil that came to Manchester would be rejected. We will not cower

against that even though. We will carry on our values in Manchester.

If you look at the crowd here, it is a great Manchester crowd. What is

your message? It is a multicultural city with many different faiths.

What would be your message to the people of Manchester tonight, some

of whom will feel angry? When we get through the tears and the grief, and

there will be a lot of tears and grief with funerals coming up, we

will show that Manchester's values of mutual respect and peace,

exemplified in this crap tonight, this is worth fighting for. We will

get beyond the tears and grief and we will get to what Manchester is

brilliant at - fighting and standing up for itself and bouncing back. I

spoke to a lady who lost her granddaughter. The pain is

unbearable. Thank you very much, Pat Karney. That's it from us tonight.

Thank you for watching on a night that Manchester will never forget.

Good night. And taxed to the BBC North West

Tonight team for that programme from Manchester. As we have been hearing,

this attack seemingly targeted children and was calculated to cause

distress. The bombing has presented parents with the difficult task of

explaining the attack to their children, and it has also challenged

the media on how to cover the news for younger audiences. Our

colleagues at CBBC have produced some advice.

There has been a serious attack in Manchester. It happened at a concert

by singer Ariana Grande. Some people lost their lives and others have

been injured. Many more people came to help, offering those who with

their lifts home and places to stay. Or just some comfort. When things

like this happen, it's totally normal to feel upset and worried. To

think things like, why did this happen? Could this happen to me?

Could this happen to my family and friends? ISAF? Was important to

remember is that although events like this are very sad, they are

also rare. Worrying stories are often in the news because they don't

happen very often, so what should you do if you're feeling sad or

anxious? Talk about it. You can speak to your parents, a teacher or

an adult you can trust. They can reassure you and help you feel

better. And remember, when things like this happen, most people are

there to help. That video was produced by our

colleagues at CBBC Newsround. We can now return to George Alagiah in

Manchester. Welcome back. Below me, some of the

thousands of people have begun to leave Albert Square after holding a

vigil. It is just one of the many ways the city is committed to terms

with what happened. There was a determination for Mancunians to come

together and stay together. The newly elected mayor of Manchester

said the city will show its true spirit.

Our cities cannot live in constant fear of terror. However much part of

life it has become. So when the night is torn by violence, there is

shock. There is strength and there are questions. Today, we asked the

Mancunians we met to speak directly to the rest of Britain. When is it

going to end? It's incredibly sad. Our way of life is being controlled

by it now, as much as we don't want it to be. We are such a united city,

and it's quite harrowing to think what happened last night. It's

devastating. Young people fell victim to it and it's really

horrible. You wouldn't expect it anywhere, but Manchester is such a

welcoming place and everyone is friendly. It's a beautiful place.

You don't expect things like that to happen here. Makes use get that

first, but you just realise you can't let the fear win. And you get

on with it. You thank the emergency services for all they have done.

It's Manchester, life goes on. Manchester was quiet today. Yet also

a place of emphatic declaration. Allah, we ask that you allow the

perpetrators of this evil action, bring them to justice. It's hard. If

I had one of the victims' fathers or somebody who has lost their daughter

or son in yesterday's attack and I am saying to him, look, George,

Alan, whoever, this is nothing to do with Muslims, and yet he knows that

the person who did it adhered to a so-called faith, it's hard to talk

to a person like that and say this is nothing to do with the faith. I

am saying to people publicly and privately, we have to distance our

faith from these barbaric terrorists. They are criminals with

criminal mindsets. People here already knew what it meant to face

and recover from terrorist violence. An IRA bomb ever stated Manchester

city centre in 1996. Three years earlier in nearby Warrington, an IRA

bomb killed three-year-old Jonathan Ball and 12-year-old Tim Parry.

Tim's Father Colin became a peace campaigner, but today he was

thinking of the inexpressible burden of parents' grief. Losing a child is

the most awful event in anybody's life. There's no easy way to say you

will one day get over it and recover, because you might not. The

feelings are deep. There are almost animal-like. You just lock

everything down. You go inside yourself. The fact that terrorism is

part of the collective memory of this city does nothing to reduce the

sense of raw shock felt here today. But Manchester's past experience

does remind us of the resilience of democracies in the face of terrorist

campaigns, and of the strength of the bonds of community. After terror

attacks, the word defiance is often used. There is that here. To

communal sense of grief that is both profound.

Huw Edwards will be back here with the latest from the BBC's news at

ten. Before we go, I will leave you with some of the images from a day

of emotion, defiance and solidarity. Goodbye.

Always remember, never forget. Forever Manchester. Choose love,

Manchester. Thank you.