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'NUTS, BOLTS AND HUMAN FLESH EVERYWHERE'
A TRAUMATISED eyewitness has described picking scraps of human flesh from her hair after a deadly suicide bomb blast killed at least 22 fans at an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena last night.
Children were among those killed by the horrific explosion, which left 59 others injured, when it went off just after 10.30pm.
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Other witnesses described seeing a woman whose leg had been blown off in the blast, and blood, skin and faeces flying through the air in the explosion.
Gig goer Abby Mullen said: "As we where leaving a bomb or explosion went off centimetres in front of me.
"Peoples skin, blood and faeces where everywhere including in my hair & on my bag.
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"I'm still finding bits of god knows what in my hair [SIC]."
Writing on Facebook, Abby assured friends and family she was fine and back at her hotel.
Greater Manchester Police chief constable Ian Hopkins said today the lone male attacker, who died in the blast, detonated an improvised explosive device.
He confirmed children were among the dead, and said victims were being treated at eight hospitals across Manchester in a "sad day for Greater Manchester".
Mr Hopkins said the priority was to find out whether the attacker acted alone or was part of a network.
He said: "It is important that we all remain vigilant as we go about our daily lives.
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"We will do all we can to help us get through the difficult days ahead."
Witnesses who were at the US popstar's concert have told of horror scenes outside the venue last night.
Chris Parker, 33, was walking through the station towards the box office when one explosion went off.
He told the Sun: There was nuts and bolts flying everywhere, and also human flesh.
"It was just one bang and a white flash.
"I’ve got blood on my hands.
"It was like a war zone inside where the box office is.
“There looked to be at least six people potentially fatally wounded. I saw one woman’s leg off. It is mayhem.”
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Terrified relatives of concert-goers have been searching for their loved ones on social media, with pictures of dozens of missing young children and teens circulating on Facebook and Twitter.
In the chilling video filmed inside the venue, a loud bang can be heard followed by screaming from the audience - many of whom were children and teenagers.
Panicked revellers are then heard shouting "Oh my God", and asking: "What's going on?"
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Gary Walker, from Leeds, was waiting for his daughters to come out of the arena when the blast went off.
He said: “There was a flash and a bang. I felt pain in my foot and leg.
“I turned to my wife and she said, ‘I need to lay down’. She’s got a stomach wound and possibly a broken leg. I’ve got a bit of a hole in my foot and a shrapnel.”
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Mr Walker spoke of seeing metal nuts amongst the debris, while paramedics told the BBC that they had seen "shrapnel-like" injuries.
Emmerdale star Isabel Hodgins, who was at the concert, gave a chilling account of the moment the explosion hit.
Speaking to Sky News following the incident, the 23-year-old soap star told of initial confusion over the source of the bang.
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Isabel, best known for her portrayal of Victoria Sugden on the ITV soap, said: "We didn’t know if a balloon had gone off, because balloons had been released in the concert so we didn’t know if it was that.
"Everybody was panicking, there was pushing up the stairs. People were obviously running, climbing down and over the chairs.
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"As we got out, everybody was screaming and crying and then the corridor was full of – it smelled of burning and there was quite a lot of smoke as we were leaving.
"The concert had just finished and we were all leaving and then there was a big bang to our left. Everybody ran away from that immediate area.
"We didn’t know what had happened. People were screaming and running but then it kind of died down.
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Witness Kiera Dawber added: “There was a massive, massive explosion. There was smoke coming up through the steps.
Everyone was screaming and shouting. There was bodies scattered about everywhere.
“It was just chaos. There were 20 to 30 people on the floor — some that you could see straight off they were dead. We just ran.”
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Courtney Spencer, a 17-year-old student who was there with a pal, said: “It happened just in front of us at the top of the stairs.
“We didn’t know what had happened. We just grabbed each other and got away.
“One lass was laying in her mother’s arms. I’m not sure if she has collapsed in shock or was injured.”
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Concertgoer Majid Khan, 22, added: "We were all exiting the venue when around 10.40-10.45pm-ish a huge bomb-like bang went off that hugely panicked everyone and we were all trying to flee the arena.
"It was one bang and essentially everyone from the other side of the arena where the bang was heard from suddenly came running towards us as they were trying to exit Trinity Way and that was blocked so everyone was just running to any exit they could find as quickly as they could.
"Everyone was in a huge state of panic, calling each other as some had gone to the toilet whilst this had gone off, so it was just extremely disturbing for everyone there."
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A spokesman for Ariana Grande has confirmed that the singer was unhurt by the blast, which happened just as she finished performing.
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ISIS have been celebrating the attack on Twitter, posting sinister message promising more atrocities.
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