Explosion at Arian Grande Concert in Manchester, 19 people killed


On May 22nd at 10:30pm local time, an explosion occurred at an unlikely place in Manchester, North England. An explosion went off at the Manchester Arena during a packed concert of mostly teenagers and a few adult chaperones for the singer Ariana Grande. The singer herself was unharmed and is deeply broken and sadden. Grande suspended her scheduled World Tour out of respect for the survivors and victims. Some 19 people were killed and 50 were injured. The news is still breaking and the Manchester police themselves are trying to understand what caused the explosion or who was behind it. It is worth remembering that not every large explosion is automatically terrorism. Many large explosions are often caused by gas leaks, apartment complexes catching fire (as happens frequently in New York and other large cities), small plane crashes or oil refineries. Many concerts often use pyrotechnic fireworks to amp up their crowds and fans depending on the singer or bands currently playing. The fear created from a gas explosion can mistakenly cause fears of terrorism where terrorism isn't the cause. It will be a few hours before the British police and MI5 can pinpoint what the explosion was caused by either a suicide bomber, a backpack bomb in the arena 's foyer or a group of attackers working in tandem.The arena is one of the largest in Europe and sits right above the Manchester Victoria station. There are Good Samaritans across Manchester offering places for people to stay, eat and just to talk and comfort anyone in need.


Panaromic view of Manchester, England near Wales and bordering the Midlands

Manchester is most famous for its renown football teams Manchester United and the popular Manchester City, Old Trafford stadium and the "Brummie" or Mancurian accent. It also an ancient town originally found during Roman occupation of Britain in 79AD as Mancunium where the modern name came from. It was also one of England's first industrial towns that benefited from the Industrial Revolution. After London, Greater Manchester is one of the larger port cities in the UK and receives many tourists, events and music festivals. It is located in Northwest England. It is only 40 minutes away from another famed music city Liverpool and 2 hours away from London to the South and Edinburgh, Scotland to the North. Due to its geography, it is a hub for sports and transportation connecting the various midland and Yorkshire cities. Hundreds of concert goers scattered in fear when the explosion occurred in the filled arena hall. The Manchester Arena explosion will bring back painful memories of the 2015 Bataclan Theatre massacre than turned into a night plus three day terror filled violence for Parisian and French residents.

Ask The Governor Program: Break News on Manchester

New Jersey 101.5 FM radio host Eric Scott broke the news during an interview on Ask the Governor Progam with New Jersey governor Chris Christie. Christie and Scott's improvised commentary is worth a listen and watch.

 

Author's Note: There is also a township in New Jersey named Manchester know for its Naval base Fort Dix and the 1937 Hindenburg Disaster. Two other cities named Manchester are in the ambly named New England region of the United States. They are Manchester, New Hamsphire, the largest city in the state and Manchester, Connecticut which is located near the state capital Hartford.

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