Explosion in Manchester kills at least 19 [WITH MULTIPLE UPDATES]

At least 19 people have been killed in an attack at a concert outside of Manchester Arena in England. Fifty others are reported injured. British authorities consider the attack to be terrorism.

The Greater Manchester police issued this statement:

Just before 10.35pm on Monday 22 May 2017, police were called to reports of an explosion at Manchester Arena.

So far 19 people have been confirmed dead, with around 50 others injured.

This is currently being treated as a terrorist incident until police know otherwise.

We’ll provide updates as more information comes in. As always in these kinds of cases, preliminary reports may prove less than entirely accurate.

UPDATE: According to this report, police suspect this was a suicide bombing. Apparently, there was a single explosion.

The explosion reportedly occurred just after the concert, catching victims as they were leaving. U.S. officials say that initial reports from the scene indicate that a number of the casualties may have been caused by a stampede of concert-goers.

FURTHER UPDATE by JOHN: The attack reportedly was carried out by a suicide bomber who used a nail bomb, generally a sign of a Muslim mass murder:

Multiple senior U.S. law enforcement officials briefed by British authorities told NBC News that forensic evidence at the scene — including a body found at the blast site — indicated a suicide attack. British and U.S. law enforcement officials said they believed they had tentatively identified the bomber.

We should soon find out whether the tentative identification is simply based on a driver’s license or the equivalent found on the body of the terrorist, or whether this is a hint that he was someone already on the authorities’ terrorist watch list.

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