Terrorist Attacks Strike Manchester and London Within Two Weeks

On May 22nd, 22-year old Salman Abedi caused a homemade bomb to explode in Manchester Arena’s commons as groups of people were leaving the Ariana Grande performance. The suicide blew bomb people off their feet and caused panic. An explosion and a flash of fire occurred, witnesses said on bbc.com.

The bomb exploded once Grande’s last song ended as fans were making their way home. People fled down the stairs and into the station.

Four hundred police officers attended, 60 ambulances appeared, and more than 240 emergency calls were made.

Hundred and sixteen people were admitted to a hospital in relation to the attacks said NHS, the National Health Service for the UK, on Bbc.com.

“A total of 16 people have been arrested in the UK in connection to the attack, of whom nine  remain in custody,” said Bbc News Reporter.

Seven children died at Manchester Arena when the bomb went off.

On June 4th, there was a One Love Manchester concert held by Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, Coldplay, Katy Perry, Take That, Nial Horan, Little Mix, Robbie Williams, the Black Eyed Peas, Pharrell Williams, and surprise guest Mac Miller. Parrs Wood High School choir was also a special guest at the concert.

Even though the UK government warned the public that there was likely going to be another attack, 55 thousand people attended the One Love Manchester concert. The concert raised $12 million, enough to take care of the victims and their families, said tmz.

At the One Love Manchester Concert, Bieber sang his hits as the crowd sang along with him. Bieber said a prayer for the victims of Manchester as he asked the audience to put up both hands and repeat “We honor you! We love you!”

Bieber said at the concert, “God is good in the midst of the darkness. God is good in the midst of the evil. God is in the midst. No matter what’s happening in the world. God is in the midst. And, He loves you. And, He is here for you. I just wanna take this moment to honor the people that were lost, or that were, that were taken, We love you so much. To the families, we love you so much. Put your- put both hands up to honor those people right now. Everybody say we honor you! We love you! Thank you so much for having me, guys,” according to tmz.

Grande changed her list of songs for the concert. Grande said she spoke with Olivia Campbell’s mom on the weekend of the concert. Campbell was a victim in the attack, and her mom said that she would have wanted to hear Ariana’s hits at the One Love Manchester benefit concert, if she were alive.

On June 3rd, the day before Grande’s One Love Concert, at around 10:08p.m., a terrorist attack occurred at London Bridge, where the attackers drove a van into pedestrians on the bridge before stabbing people. According to witnesses, they heard them say “This is for Allah.” Within eight minutes, police responded and shot and killed the three attackers. The police believed that they were suicide vests, which they then realized to be fake. Seven people were killed and 48 were injured and sent to hospitals, according to theguardian.com.

The suspects were shot dead by the police said nbcnews.

Katie Forster, author of an article for independent.co.uk, said “Isis has claimed responsibility for the van and knife attack.”