Manchester explosion: Young children, teenagers and parents feared to be victims of blast

Ariana Grande is popular with a younger demographic

Teenagers, children, and their parents are feared to be the victims of a reported blast that has shaken an arena in Manchester.

The reported blast took place just after the end of an Ariana Grande concert, an American pop singer popular with predominantly younger crowds, when concert goers were attempting to leave the Manchester Arena. The explosion, which was being treated as a terrorist incident by Greater Manchester Police, left at least 19 dead and injured around 50 more.

The fear of a bombing sparked panic in the arena and lead some children and their parents to become separated from one another. A nearby Holiday Inn was accepting children who were unable to find their parents following the end of the concert.

"I and my sister, along with a lot of others, were seeing Ariana Grande perform at Manchester Arena, and we were seeing Ariana Grande perform at Manchester Arena, and we were all exiting the venue 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 area," Majid Khan, 22, said. "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.

A Twitter user who said that he worked in a job associated with the arena lamented the deaths there.

"People have died where I work. Innocent people, mostly kids, have died," a user named Will wrote. "Heartbreaking. Manchester doesn't deserve this. No one deserves this."

Another user said that the scene following the attack was full of devastated teenagers.

"I'm walking back to my hotel and all I see is crying and teenagers breaking down," the user wrote. "It was way too loud."