Tragedy struck the English city of Manchester Monday night (May 22) when a reported explosion killed 19 people and injured roughly 50 others at an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena.
Hours later, Grande released a short statement, tweeting: “from the bottom of my heart, i am so so sorry. i don’t have words.”
The tweets follow a similar sentiment shared by Boston rapper BIA, who was direct support for Grande on this European leg of the pop singer’s Dangerous Woman tour. Grande’s manager, Scooter Braun, also released a statement; it reads in part: “Tonight, our hearts are broken,” he wrote. “Words cannot express our sorrow for the victims and families harmed in this senseless attack. We mourn the lives of children and loved ones taken by this cowardly act.”
Manchester officials have said the blast occurred outside the arena around 10:30 p.m. local time, positioned to possibly target concertgoers as they were leaving the venue. Dozens of children and teenagers were taken to a nearby Holiday Inn as the city scrambled to tend to the incident, which police believe was a terrorist attack.
Read Grande and Braun’s full statements below.
broken.
from the bottom of my heart, i am so so sorry. i don't have words.— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) May 23, 2017
— Scooter Braun (@scooterbraun) May 23, 2017
[h/t Pitchfork]