At least 22 people have been killed and around 50 injured after an explosion at Manchester Arena at the end of a concert by Ariana Grande. It’s perhaps the worst to hit Britain since the July 7 2005 suicide bomb attacks in central London in which 52 people were killed. Local hospitals in Manchester were flooded with injured . My admiration to the brave NHS family, ambulance crew, GPs, hospital doctors and nurses who were at hand to offer their help after bombing at Manchester Arena. Eight Manchester-area hospitals were treating the wounded.
Manchester Arena, formerly known as the MEN Arena, is the biggest indoor venue in the city with a capacity of around 18,000 for concerts. This incident, this attack, is especially vile, especially criminal, especially horrific because it appears to have been deliberately directed at teenagers.
Mancunians were showing their compassionate side just after the incidents. Within an hour of reports of the blast, people began offering spare rooms and beds to people stranded in the city using the hashtag #RoomForManchester. Hundreds of tweets offering places to stay are being shared and re-tweeted thousands of times. Local cab drivers were offering free rides to stranded young fans of the American diva.
Today the whole country will grieve for the victims of dastardly terrorist attack. The cowardly terrorist in Manchester arena, just like those before it in various parts of the world, demonstrate that terrorism does not discriminate by race, ethnicity or region. Instead, terrorists indiscriminately target those seeking to live a peaceful, loving and free life. We are really tired of these terrorist attacks. Women and children are suffering. My heart goes out to the victims and their families in Manchester, the city I love, have lived and worked all my life. Manchester has seen terrorist acts before, no act of terror can shake the strength and resilience of Mancunians.
Andy Burnham, the newly elected mayor of greater Manchester articulates the voices of the nation: ‘It is hard to believe what has happened here in the last few hours and to put into words the shock hurt and anger that we feel today. These were children, young people and their families who those responsible chose to terrorize and kill. This was an evil act.”
No words can describe how I feel about what happened in Manchester. I don’t want to believe that the world we live in could be so cruel. Those who indulge in terrorism and aid in such reprehensible acts must be punished. That is the message resonating here today in Manchester. The BMA’s North West Regional Council expresses its deepest sympathy and condolences to the people of Manchester and particularly to the families and friends affected by last night’s bomb blast. we pay tribute to the police and emergency services who have worked valiantly to save lives last night. At this tragic time you want the NHS and emergency services to be at their best, and we are proud that but for them, the losses would have been much greater.
The menace of the terrorism has to be tackled, once for all, this struggle will require vigilance, perseverance and sacrifice for many years to come.
Dr Kailash Chand is a retired GP in Lancashire
