LOS ANGELES | Pop star Ariana Grande said on Monday she was “broken” five hours after a suicide bomber killed at least 22 people and wounded dozens of others at her concert in Manchester, England.
Making her first comment since an explosion detonated just outside Manchester Arena at the end of her performance there, Grande said on Twitter: “broken. from the bottom of my heart, i am so so sorry. i don’t have words.”
Representatives for Grande have said that the 23-year-old pop star was physically “okay” following the blast.
At least 22 people, including some children, were killed and 59 were wounded when a suicide bomber struck as thousands of fans streamed out of Grande’s concert on Monday.
Prime Minister Theresa May called an emergency meeting with intelligence chiefs on the deadliest militant assault in Britain since four British Muslims killed 52 people in suicide bombings on London’s transport system in July 2005.
Witnesses related the horror of the blast which prompted a stampede just as the concert ended at Europe’s largest indoor arena.
“We ran and people were screaming around us and pushing on the stairs to go outside and people were falling down, girls were crying, and we saw these women being treated by paramedics having open wounds on their legs … it was just chaos,” said Sebastian Diaz, 19.
“It was literally just a minute after it ended, the lights came on and the bomb went off,” Diaz said.
Grande was performing in Manchester during the European leg of a concert tour to support her latest album, “Dangerous Woman.”
She was scheduled to perform at London’s O2 arena on Thursday and then in Belgium, Poland and Germany in the coming weeks. It was not immediately clear whether those concerts would go forward following Monday’s attack.
Grande, who starred in the Broadway musical “13” and on the Nickelodeon TV series Victorious before releasing her solo debut album, is credited with having an exceptionally broad vocal range for a pop star.
She is best known for her singles “Problem,” and “Break Free” from her sophomore album, My Everything.
