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Manchester bombing: 'Imagine having to tell a child that someone has just blown themselves up'

Newsquest, a Gannett company

Rebecca Reeton with daughter Lillian at the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England.

MANCHESTER, England — Witnesses of a suicide bombing in Manchester, England, are in shock after an Ariana Grande concert was followed by a fatal explosion.

The explosion rocked an area of the 21,000-seat Manchester Arena at about 10:33 p.m. local time Monday. The Islamic State is claiming responsibility for the tragedy that left at least 22 dead, including an 8-year-old girl.

Here are some accounts from those at the scene:

Rebecca Reeton, 32, from Baildon, was at the concert with her daughter Lillian, who had got the ticket as a Christmas present.

“Lillian is very traumatized. As we were trying to get out we could see the whole aftermath of it. Poor little girl, she was screaming that she didn’t want to die.”

They sat in section 206, which Reeton said was right above where the bomb is thought to have gone off.

“My daughter was terrified, imagine having to tell a child that someone has just blown themselves up.”

Phil Dick said he saw “the bottom half of a body” he believes was the suicide bomber.

Phil Dick of Idle, Bradford, was waiting with his wife Kim in the foyer for their youngest daughter and granddaughter when the bomb went off yards away. The 54-year-old, who believes he also saw the remains of the suicide bomber, checked the bodies of the injured, dead and dying to see if it was his girls.

"There was a young girl coming towards us, staggering with blood pouring out. Kim rushed forwards and grabbed her. Together we half carried half dragged her out of the foyer doors to the walkway outside,” Dick said. “I went back into the foyer and checked every person there — the injured, dead and dying to see if it was my daughter or granddaughter. It wasn't them, thankfully for us but not for other families."

Dick’s daughter and granddaughter were evacuated by security staff, and they were reunited later. He has stayed in touch with the injured girl’s family, who has been in and out of surgery.

"She's still in a bad way but she's going to survive,” he said. “She's got more surgery to come. She still has shrapnel in her. She has a broken arm, leg, shoulder and jaw."

Ellie Clayton, right, at the Ariana Grande concert with friends Emily Crispin, left, and Polly Asquith-Brown.

Ellie Clayton, 18, from Baildon said if the concert started on time, she believes she would have been in the foyer when the bomb exploded. She, along with a friend and cousin, had front-row tickets to the concert. They were trying to make their way out at the time of the explosion.

"We saw a little girl sat on some steps, her neck and chin was covered in blood and then we saw people laid on the floor with others crowding round them. People were carrying people out. It was just chaos."

Ellie and her friends managed to get the last train out of Manchester to Leeds from the city's Piccadilly station.

Chris Parker, 33, told the Press Association a woman died in his arms following the explosion.

"She passed away in my arms. She was in her 60s and said she had been with her family. I haven't stopped crying," Parker said. "The most shocking part of it is that it was a kids' concert."

Parker, who is homeless, said he also helped a young girl nearby in critical condition.

“I heard screaming … I saw a little girl ... she had no legs. I wrapped her in one of the merchandise T-shirts and I said 'where is your mum and daddy?' She said 'my dad is at work, my mum is up there'."

Parker told the Press Association he saw nuts and bolts covering the floor.

"People had holes in their back," he said. "It's the screams I can't get over and the smell ... I don't like to say it but it smelled like burning flesh.

Laura Ramsden said she was one of the last people to leave the Manchester Arena.

Laura Ramsden, from Radcliffe, was sitting in the disabled seating area at the Manchester Arena with her niece and niece's friend.

"I think I was one of the last concert-goers to be evacuated ... and saw a number of people with blood coming from the head and running down their faces. What was an enjoyable night will now be remembered for all the wrong reasons," Ramsden said.

Josh Elliott, from County Durham, said he was just leaving his seat when he heard a bang.

“When we got into the foyer everyone was screaming and I have never been as scared in my life. It was the most terrifying thing I have witnessed and I was nowhere near anything that happened, so God knows what it must have been like for them ... it was absolute madness ... We just wanted to get as far away as we could.”

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Chris Young and Kathie Griffiths of the (Bradford, England) Telegraph & Argus, Daniel Holland of the Bury (England) Times, and Bruce Unwin of The (Darlington, England) Northern Echo contributed to this report.