‘Unlike anything I’ve ever heard’: Manchester bombing witness talks to RT (VIDEO)
A witness to the Manchester terrorist attack has told RT how he watched the tragedy unfold and how shocked he was that “something like that could happen right on his doorstep.”
Manchester resident Sam Ward described how Monday evening developed from a quiet weeknight “into absolute shocker.”
“It initially started with an absolutely huge bang, really loud, unlike anything I’d ever heard before, in the city center,” the young man told RT.
His words were echoed by the harrowing eye-witness report of Abby Mullen, who said she was just leaving the Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena when the explosion occurred.
“I thought we would leave seconds before the last song finished in order [to] get home quicker instead of waiting longer for a taxi,” the Scottish woman wrote on her Facebook page.
“As we [were] leaving a bomb or explosion went off meters [in front] of me.
“Peoples skin/blood & feces [were] everywhere including in my hair & on my bag. I’m still finding bits of god knows what in my hair.
“That sound, the blood & those who [were] running around clueless with body parts & bits of skin missing will not be leaving my mind any time soon or the minds of those involved,” she wrote.
The attack, which is being treated as a terrorist attack, killed 21 people, plus the suicide bomber himself. The identity of the attacker is still unknown.
The Islamic State terrorist group (IS, formerly ISIS/ISL) has since claimed responsibility for the attack via the Telegram messaging app.
Ward told RT that the emergency services’ rapid response to tragedy was akin to a “military operation.”
“It was shocking, to be honest, for something like that to happen right on your doorstep. We literally watched it unfold until about 3am. It was shocking,” he said.
He added that the mood in the city was “very somber” in the aftermath of the tragedy.
“I just walked through Piccadilly Gardens, which is pretty much the epicenter of the city center, and there’s a massive presence of armed response, there’s police in every corner, rapid response ambulance vehicles all stationed up at what I imagine are key strategic points.
“Everyone has just been taken aback, and we have just come out of a meeting at work now, just to make sure everyone is alright. I think everyone is just coming together as a community to get through it,” he said.
