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Manchester blast "carnage": witnesses

Witnesses have described a blast at singer Ariana Grande's concert in Manchester as "chaotic" as British police confirm up to 19 people have died.

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Source: AAP


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WHAT WITNESSES HAVE SEEN AND HEARD:

* "It was a huge explosion - you could feel it in your chest. It was chaotic. Everybody was running and screaming and just trying to get out." - concertgoer Catherine Macfarlane told Reuters.

* "Everyone was in a huge state of panic, calling each other as some had gone to the toilet whilst this had gone off, so it was just extremely disturbing for everyone there." - concertgoer Majid Khan said.

* "It's shocking what happened. Just carnage everywhere. There was a good 20 to 30 of them [victims]. Some were young kids, some were disabled people." - Andy, a father said.

* "My 2 daughters caught up in the Manchester explosion at the arena. They are thankfully safe, but I fear for others." - Liverpool City Region metro mayor Steve Rotheram tweeted.

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* "Everyone just fled. Some people were injured. We saw blood on people when we got outside. People were just running all over the place." - concertgoer David Richardson told Manchester Evening News.

* "It almost sounded like a gunshot. That's how I would describe it. It was very loud." - 18-year-old Calvin Welsford told BBC.

* "The bang echoed around the foyer of the arena and people started to run. I seen (sic) people running and screaming towards one direction and then many were turning around to run back the other way." - eyewitness Oliver Jones said.

* "We saw young girls with blood on them, everyone was screaming and people were running. There was lots of smoke." - Sasina Akhtar told MEN.

* "Just as the lights have gone down we heard a really loud explosion... Everybody screamed. When we got out they just said 'keep on running, keep on running'." - Michelle Sullivan who attended the concert with her daughters aged 12 and 15 told BBC.


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