Manchester bombing: Witnesses describe 'horrific' scenes moments after attack

'Everyone was frantically running and screaming and crying. It was horrific. There were people with bandages, there were blood splatters everywhere'

Survivors of the Manchester terror attack have spoken of the “devastation” they witnessed on Monday night following an explosion that killed 22 people and injured dozens more.

Witnesses recounted hearing a “huge bang” in the lobby of Manchester Arena and minutes later seeing dead bodies on the floor and “blood splattered everywhere”.

Many spoke of the carnage that ensued, which saw people “frantically running and screaming and crying” as they tried to leave the venue to access safety.

Andy Breslin, 25, a student who manages a bar at Manchester Arena, had been counting money in the tills when the explosion took place, and shortly afterwards witnessed the carnage it had caused.

“I was just in my bar counting the tills. I had two left to count and all of a sudden just heard a massive bang,” Mr Breslin told the Derry Journal.

“I knew straight away it was an explosion. The noise was deafening and the sound of all the people running and screaming was horrendous. There were people saying it was a firework, but it was way too loud for that.

“The announcer started saying ‘everybody calm down everything is fine’, but we could all smell smoke by this stage and the place was becoming cloudy with dust and smoke. I threw all the money in a bag and headed downstairs.

“When I came out, I saw a woman on the ground being treated. She was sitting upright and looked conscious but her face was covered in blood.”

Jackie Turner, who was with her three young grandchildren at the concert, said she and her young granddaughter initially hid with hundreds of others in the toilet, but came out shortly afterwards to see “blood everywhere” and chaos as people tried to get out.

“We were all stuck in the toilet. There were hundreds of people in the toilet. Everybody was shouting ‘There’s a gun’,” Ms Turner told Radio Wave for Blackpool.

“We were hiding in the toilet cubicles, and then we got out and started trying to get down the stairs. Everybody was crushed. There was blood everywhere. It was horrible.”

Zac Haniff, who was attending the concert where the deadly bombing took place, said he heard a blast that sounded like a gunshot, before coming out of the arena and witnessing a “horrific” scene.

Mr Haniff told TODAY live: “It must have been 10 seconds after she left and the lights came on. There was just this huge bang.

“It sounded to me like a gunshot, but obviously in the moment you don’t really think anything of it. I thought maybe a speaker had burst or she’d dropped her mic backstage, so we weren’t thinking anything of it.

“When we got out into the arena lobby, we saw everyone frantically running and screaming and crying. It was horrific. There were people with bandages, there were blood splatters everywhere."

Gary Walker, who was injured on the foot and whose wife sustained a stomach wound when the blast struck while they were waited for their two daughters to come out of the arena, said he saw nuts and bolts on the floor following the explosion.

He told BBC 5 Live News: “There was a big flash and then a whoosh of air. I just thought, ‘what the hell’s that?’. And then a smell in the air. My ears started ringing.

“I looked back at where the explosion was and there were people laid out on the floor. Turned around to look at my wife, and she said she needed to lay down.

“I saw bolts and there was glass all over the floor. I picked up a nut. I’m in the building trade and I know what a nut is, and it was a large one.”

Jenny Brewster, who was leaving the concert with her 11-year-old daughter, said she could hear the smell of burning, telling Sky News: “We got to the car which was 10 seconds away, and as soon as we got there, we could smell the burning.

“Coming out then with quite a fluid operation there were people around us. Children were devastated. We could see police running in front of our car, emergency services with huge red backpacks on them running into the building.

“We managed to get away within about three of four minutes. But it was devastating.”

Among those confirmed to have died in the blast are eight-year-old girl Saffie Rose Roussos, 18-year-old girl Georgina Bethany Callander and 26-year-old man John Atkinson.

The suicide attacker who detonated the bomb has been named as 23-year-old Salman Abedi, according to US officials. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.