My other-half's kid sister was at the concert with her best friend. We didn't hear from them until nearly half 11, nearly home and unharmed.
She couldn't see the explosion; she was on the other side of the arena, fortunately. She heard the bang and felt the ground shake. She says she knew immediately what was going on but it wasn't until the people started pouring back in the other way, towards her exits that she really started panicking. Her entire area became a mass of frightened, screaming children, clambering over each other to get out. Truly terrifying and if you've seen any of the video, with adults pushing past children, you've got a good idea of the chaos. She says that she couldn't get Paris out of her mind and she was convinced that gun-men were going to come in and start shooting people. Her and her friend stayed together and just kept pushing, eventually making it to an exit.
Her friends parents had dropped them off, gone off round Manchester for an hour or so and had parked up just 15 minutes before the incident. They'd grabbed a McDonalds and had sat in the car to watch for the girls. They heard the explosion which shook the car. It took them a moment to work out what was going on but then the dad sprang in to action, getting as close to the exits as he could to watch for the girls, not knowing which way they would come out. He spotted them almost as soon as they made it through the gates, in spite of the sea of terrified people pouring out, ran over and literally hauled them back to the car. The mum already had it running and as soon as everyone was in, she sped off in fear of something else happening. It took quite some time to calm the girls but eventually kid sister was on the phone to her mum, letting her know she was safe.
It was her first concert, unsupervised, at 14. Her and her bestie off to have times you want to remember for the rest of your life. She'll never forget this.
She couldn't see the explosion; she was on the other side of the arena, fortunately. She heard the bang and felt the ground shake. She says she knew immediately what was going on but it wasn't until the people started pouring back in the other way, towards her exits that she really started panicking. Her entire area became a mass of frightened, screaming children, clambering over each other to get out. Truly terrifying and if you've seen any of the video, with adults pushing past children, you've got a good idea of the chaos. She says that she couldn't get Paris out of her mind and she was convinced that gun-men were going to come in and start shooting people. Her and her friend stayed together and just kept pushing, eventually making it to an exit.
Her friends parents had dropped them off, gone off round Manchester for an hour or so and had parked up just 15 minutes before the incident. They'd grabbed a McDonalds and had sat in the car to watch for the girls. They heard the explosion which shook the car. It took them a moment to work out what was going on but then the dad sprang in to action, getting as close to the exits as he could to watch for the girls, not knowing which way they would come out. He spotted them almost as soon as they made it through the gates, in spite of the sea of terrified people pouring out, ran over and literally hauled them back to the car. The mum already had it running and as soon as everyone was in, she sped off in fear of something else happening. It took quite some time to calm the girls but eventually kid sister was on the phone to her mum, letting her know she was safe.
It was her first concert, unsupervised, at 14. Her and her bestie off to have times you want to remember for the rest of your life. She'll never forget this.
Sum ergo sum
