22 killed in explosion at Ariana Grande concert, police say

MANCHESTER, England — An explosion struck an Ariana Grande concert attended by thousands of young music fans in northern England, killing at least 22 people and injuring dozens in what police said Tuesday was being treated as a terrorist attack.

Northwest Ambulance Service said 59 injured people had been taken to hospitals, and a number of “walking wounded” were treated at the scene.

Police cars, bomb-disposal units and 60 ambulances raced to the scene as the scale of the carnage became clear.

“We are currently treating this as a terrorist incident until we know otherwise,” said Ian Hopkins, chief constable of Greater Manchester Police.

The incident led to a nightlong search for loved ones as parents tried to locate their teenage children and groups of friends scattered by the explosion sought to find one another.

Taxi services offered to give stranded concertgoers rides home for free, and residents opened their homes to provide lodging for people who could not get home because public transport had shut down.

Britain’s terrorist threat level stands at “severe,” the second-highest rung on a five-point scale, meaning an attack is highly likely.

Online, supporters of the extremist Islamic State group, which holds territory in Iraq’s Mosul and around its de facto capital in the Syrian city of Raqqa, celebrated the blast.

If the incident is confirmed as a terrorist attack, it would be the deadliest in Britain since four suicide bombers killed 52 London commuters on three subway trains and a bus in July 2005.