Dead toll rises to 22 in Manchester suicide bomber attack

The death toll from an explosion outside an Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena has risen to 22, according to Greater Manchester Police. The attacker, who police believe was a suicide bomber, also died in the attack.

British families were left desperately hoping for word of their children's safety following a suspected terror attack outside the Ariana Grande pop concert at the Manchester Arena Monday night.

An explosion rocked the venue as the singer was finishing her set, killing at least 22 people and injuring almost 60 others.

Manchester's top police officer confirmed that police were treating as a "terrorist incident." Sources tell CNN a man at the scene has been identified as a likely suicide bomber.

If confirmed as a terror incident, it would be the deadliest attack on British soil since the 2005 London bombings, which killed 52 people.

How it happened

As concertgoers -- many of them young fans of the singer -- were beginning to leave the arena after Grande's closing set, an explosion rocked the area. Confusion followed as people fled in search of safety, and the sound of wailing sirens soon cut through the smoky air outside the arena.

The incident happened shortly after Grande had left the stage, according to eyewitnesses. Calvin Welsford, an 18-year-old concertgoer, said he heard a "loud bang" a couple of minutes after Grande's set had finished.

"Ariana was off the stage, she'd finished her set," he said. "I looked around because I heard this big bang, people screaming and crying and flooded towards the stage."

Social media posts from the scene showed panicked concertgoers running down the arena's stairs in an attempt to get away.

The city's Manchester Royal Infirmary Hospital was blocked off to all but essential staff due to what the facility called a major incident.

Grande, who had just finished the first of three scheduled UK performances when the blast hit, was not injured. She tweeted several hours later: "broken. from the bottom of my heart, i am so so sorry. i don't have words."

After the initial incident, police carried out a precautionary controlled explosion nearby but the item turned out to be discarded clothing, not a "suspicious item," Greater Manchester Police said.

A US official said suicide bombing is now considered to be the "likely" reason for the blast and a male at the scene in Manchester has been identified as the probable bomber.

A US Department of Homeland Security statement said it was "closely monitoring" the situation and added that the department has "no information to indicate a 'specific credible threat involving music venues in the United States.''

Home Secretary Amber Rudd said: "This particular attack was aimed at the most vulnerable in our society, young people, children at a concert." She added that Britons should "remain alert, not alarmed" in the wake of the apparent attack.

The crowd was made up of mainly younger people who had come to see Grande, who is on a European and Latin American tour.

[CNN]