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Manchester Attack: Local Gurdwaras Offer Shelter To Blast Victims

Darpan News Desk IANS, 23 May, 2017 09:45 AM
    Gurdwaras in Manchester are offered shelter to those affected and stranded by Tuesday’s deadly Manchester Arena blast.
     
    “Sikh Temples in Manchester, UK offering food & accommodation. They are open for ALL people. #PrayForManchester #ManchesterArena #England,” tweeted Harjinder S Kukreja along with the address of the four Sikh temples located in the vicinity.
     
    The gurdwaras are Sri Guru Gobind Singh Gurdwara Educational & Cultural Centre located at 57 Upper Chorlton Rd, Manchester M16 7RQ; Gurdwara Sri Guru Harkrishan Sahib located at 12 Sherborne St, Manchester M3 1FE, Dasmesh Sikh Temple located at 98 Heywood St, Manchester M8 0DT and Central Gurdwara Manchester located at 32 Derby St, Manchester M8 8RY.
     
    The locals in the area also took to Twitter to offer shelter to those affected.
     
    “#roomformanchester. Anyone needing help or a place to stay tonight we are 10 minutes walk from the Manchester arena. Spare room and 2 sofas,” said a Twitter user.
     
    “If anyone needs a sofa, a charger, a brew-please dm. Located just off Piccadilly Gardens #roomformanchester @GMPCityCentre #ManchesterArena,” said another.
     
    In what could be described as one of the worst terror attacks in Britain, at least 19 people were killed and dozens of other injured as a suspected suicide bomber carried out a carnage during an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester.
     
    The explosion occurred near the foyer area of the arena in what is being reported as a “nail bomb attack”.
     
     
    A man found dead at the scene is thought to be the probable suicide bomber, according to reports.
     
    Last, England saw such a deadly terror attack was in 2005 when on July 7, terrorists carried out a series of coordinated suicide bomb attacks in central London which targeted civilians using the public transport system during the rush hour.
     
    Fifty-two people were killed and over 700 more were injured in the attacks.
     
    Also, in 2009, the Manchester police had thwarted a major terror bid to attack Manchester’s Arndale shopping centre on the busy Easter bank holiday weekend.
     
    With up to 90,000 shoppers in or near the shopping centre at the time, police believe an attack would have killed hundreds and maimed thousands.
     
    A student identified as Abid Naseer, 29, who plotted the mass suicide bomb attack was jailed for 40 years in 2015
     
     
     
    IS CLAIMS SUICIDE ATTACK THAT KILLED 22 AT POP CONCERT IN UK
     
    A lone suicide bomber set off a powerful homemade bomb at a concert of US pop star Ariana Grande in Manchester city, killing at least 22 people and injuring 59 others, in the deadliest terror attack in Britain since the 2005 London bombings.
     
    The Islamic State terror group today claimed responsibility for the bombing and warned of more attacks.
     
    The group said in a statement on its social media sites that “one of the caliphate’s soldiers placed bombs among the crowds.”
     
    Manchester Chief Constable Ian Hopkins said this afternoon: 'I can confirm that the man suspected of carrying out last night's atrocity has been named as 22-year-old Salman Abedi. However, he has not yet been formally identified and I wouldn't wish, therefore, to comment further.
     
    He added: 'The priority remains to establish whether he was acting alone or as part of a network.'  
     
    The 22-year-old British-born attacker was heard 'chanting Islamic prayers loudly in the street' outside his home in the south of the city.
     
    One neighbour claimed they heard Abedi chanting Islamic prayers at the home just weeks before the concert hall atrocity. 
     
     
     
    Prime Minister Theresa May said the people of Manchester have fallen victim to a “callous terrorist attack”.
     
    After chairing a Cobra (Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms) meeting here in the wake of the blast, May said a single terrorist detonated a device near the exit, at a time and place intended to cause maximum injuries.
     
    Screaming concert-goers, including children fled the venue last night in panic after the powerful blast struck the Manchester Arena—Europe’s largest indoor arena.
     
    Children and teenagers were among the dead because of the very young demographic of the pop star’s fans.
     
    “Our thoughts are with those 22 victims that we now know have died, the 59 people who have been injured and their loved ones. We continue to do all we can to support them. They are being treated at eight hospitals across Greater Manchester,” Greater Manchester Police chief constable Ian Hopkins said.
     
    “This is a fast-moving investigation...We have been treating this as a terrorist incident and we believe that while the attack last night was conducted by one man, the priority is to establish whether he was acting alone or as part of a network,” he said in a statement.
     
    Police have arrested a 23-year-old man in Chorlton, south Manchester, in connection with the attack.
     
    Police confirmed the attacker died at the arena. They said the lone male attacker set off a homemade bomb in the foyer last night at the end of the concert.
     
    However, police have not yet confirmed the identity of the attacker.
     
    The first victim has been named as 18-year-old student Georgina Callander.
     
    Prime Minister May said if others are responsible for the attack, they will be brought to justice.
     
    The police believe that the attack was carried out by one person. But they need to find out if he was acting alone. The police think they know the identity of the perpetrator. But the police are not at this point revealing his name, May said.
    “Our way of life will always prevail,” she asserted.
     
    Queen Elizabeth II condemned the attack as an act of “barbarity”.
     
    Official sources in New Delhi said they were ascertaining if there were any Indian casualties in the blast.
     
    “Any Indians injured during Manchester attack today may reach off-office hours Public Response Unit of HCI (High Commission of India) ASAP (as soon as possible) at 020 7632 3035,” the Indian High Commission here tweeted.
     
    “We’ll activate more helplines shortly to be of further assistance to families and friends of those affected by attack,” it said.
     
    Manchester, a heavily industrialised city, some 260 km from London, is home to a significant number of people from South Asia.
    The blast comes just weeks before the snap UK general election, campaigning for which was hotting up over the issue of Brexit—the UK’s exit from the European Union.
     
    However, both May and Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn suspended election campaign after the Manchester attack.

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