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Second Manchester bomb victim named as eight-year-old Saffie Rose Roussos Second Manchester bomb victim named as eight-year-old Saffie Rose Roussos
(about 3 hours later)
A “beautiful little girl” has been named as a victim of the suspected suicide attack at the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester which has left at least 22 people dead and 59 injured. An eight-year-old girl, who was described by her school as “simply beautiful”, was the youngest fatality named so far of the suicide bomber who struck at the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester.
Eight-year-old Saffie Rose Roussos was at the concert with her mother, Lisa, and sister Ashlee Bromwich. It is understood they are being treated in hospital. Saffie Rose Roussos was one of 22 children, teenagers and adults who died in an attack which left at least 59 people suffering shrapnel wounds from the blast.
Chris Upton, the headteacher at Tarleton Community primary school, where the eight-year-old was a pupil, said: “Saffie was simply a beautiful little girl in every aspect of the word. She was loved by everyone and her warmth and kindness will be remembered fondly. Saffie was quiet and unassuming with a creative flair.” Saffie, a pupil at Tarleton Community primary school near Preston, Lancashire, was with her mother Lisa and sister Ashlee Bromwich to watch Grande, who counts children from primary age through to their late teens as fans.
The news of her death had come as a tremendous shock, he added. “The thought that anyone could go out to a concert and not come home is heartbreaking.” The tight-knit school would be helping staff and pupils to cope with the shocking news, he said. It is understood Saffie’s mother and sister are being treated in hospital.
The first victim to be named in the aftermath of the attack was 18-year-old Georgina Callander. Chris Upton, her headteacher, said Saffie was “simply a beautiful little girl in every aspect of the word.”
Runshaw College, where Callander was a student, released a statement, saying: “It is with enormous sadness that it appears that one of the people who lost their lives in Monday’s Manchester attack was one of our students here at Runshaw College ... Our deepest sympathies, thoughts and prayers go out to all of Georgina’s friends, family, and all of those affected by this loss.” “She was loved by everyone and her warmth and kindness will be remembered fondly. Saffie was quiet and unassuming with a creative flair.”
The former Bishop Rawstorne pupil was in the second year of a health and social care course at the college, which said it was offering counselling with a dedicated student support team to people close to the teenager. The news of her death had come as a tremendous shock, he added. “The thought that anyone could go out to a concert and not come home is heartbreaking.”
A crowdfunding page set up by two people Georgina knew from YouTube to help with her funeral costs had raised more than £1,500 within two hours of being launched. Eighteen year old Georgina Callander was confirmed as another fatality.
A man from Bury has also been named among the victims of Monday night’s attack. Friends of John Atkinson, 26, from Radcliffe paid tribute to him, reported the Manchester Evening News. Callander, who was studying health and social care at Runshaw College in Leyland, Lancashire, sent a Twitter message to Grande on Sunday, saying: “SO EXCITED TO SEE YOU TOMORROW.”
She had previously posted a photograph of herself with the singer taken in 2015 on her Instagram account.
Runshaw College said: “It is with enormous sadness that it appears that one of the people who lost their lives in Monday’s Manchester attack was one of our students here at Runshaw College ... Our deepest sympathies, thoughts and prayers go out to all of Georgina’s friends, family, and all of those affected by this loss.”
The college said it was offering counselling with a dedicated student support team to people close to the teenager.
Friends of John Atkinson, 26, from Radcliffe, said he had died in the terror attack and paid tribute to him in the Manchester Evening News.
On Facebook, one friend, Taliè Andrèa, called him “a beautiful soul”. Tracey Crolla wrote: “Thinking of all the Atkinsons at this very sad time. John Atkinson you turned into an amazing young man so kind and thoughtful you will be missed by everyone x x.”On Facebook, one friend, Taliè Andrèa, called him “a beautiful soul”. Tracey Crolla wrote: “Thinking of all the Atkinsons at this very sad time. John Atkinson you turned into an amazing young man so kind and thoughtful you will be missed by everyone x x.”
Nana Julie Mills said: “Just heard one of my good friends whom I’ve known since he was a little boy passed away last night. Condolences to his family and friends. RIP John Atkinson.”Nana Julie Mills said: “Just heard one of my good friends whom I’ve known since he was a little boy passed away last night. Condolences to his family and friends. RIP John Atkinson.”
Parents of other missing concert-goers continued to search for their children the day after the Manchester Arena attack, visiting hospitals and posting photos of their loved ones on social media. Throughout Tuesday the relatives of at least 15 teenagers and adults, aged between 14 and 44, continued increasingly desperate searches for their missing loved ones.
About 21,000 people, many of them children and teenagers, were in the arena when a bomb exploded in the foyer at about 10.30pm. Deborah Hutchinson, from Gateshead, travelled to Manchester on Tuesday morning in the hope of finding her teenage daughter, Courtney Boyle, who has been missing since the attack. In an appeal on Facebook, she wrote that Courtney was with her partner, Philip Tron, and by 8am on Tuesday neither had been located.
Twelve children under the age of 16 were among the 59 casualties taken to hospital after the terror attack, confirmed by David Ratcliffe, the medical director of North West ambulance service.
Greater Manchester police have told people who need help or assistance to go to gate 11 at the Etihad Stadium, Manchester City football club’s ground. An emergency phone number set up to help people is 0800 096 0095.
Some family members have been on @Radio5live appealing for information about missing loved ones.
Deborah Hutchinson, from Gateshead, went to Manchester on Tuesday morning in the hope of finding her teenage daughter, Courtney, who has been missing since the attack. In an appeal on Facebook, she wrote that Courtney was with her partner, Philip Tron, and by 8am on Tuesday neither had been located.
She wrote: “My daughter Courtney Boyle and partner Philip Tron have gone missing tonight in a attack at Manchester tonight please share and help find them I need them home safe xX.”She wrote: “My daughter Courtney Boyle and partner Philip Tron have gone missing tonight in a attack at Manchester tonight please share and help find them I need them home safe xX.”
The search for missing victims was complicated by many sharing apparently fake reports that the Holiday Inn in Manchester had taken in 60 children without guardians. The hotel told the Guardian it provided support to people immediately after the attack but could not confirm reports of large numbers of unaccompanied children. The mother of Olivia Campbell, 15, from Bury made a public appeal for help in finding her daughter, who is a pupil at Tottington High School.
In a statement, it said: “Our thoughts are with all the victims of this horrendous tragedy as well as their friends and family and the people of Manchester. The hotel teams at Crowne Plaza Manchester City Centre and Holiday Inn Express Manchester City Centre – Arena have both been working closely with the emergency services throughout the night, supporting members of the public who needed immediate refuge. The hotels are fully operational and continue to offer support. Charlotte Campbell said she had spoken to her daughter at the concert. “She’d just seen the support act and said she was having an amazing time, and thanking me for letting her go,” she told the BBC. Olivia was with her friend Adam, who was found in hospital, but Olivia had not been found.
“A number of other Holiday Inn hotels in the wider area also offered those impacted a place to stay – as the wider Manchester community did – through social channels.”
A grid purporting to be of missing victims who had been found included fake photographs, according to an article by BuzzFeed, which debunked several false news stories being circulated.
Pauline Gorman from Darlington contacted the Guardian to say a Twitter account claiming to search for a girl named Lucy was actually using photos of her daughters Anna, 18, and Niamh, 13, taken from social media. “Please come home Lucy and let us know you’re safe,” said one tweet, which was shared more than 1,600 times.
The account was closed after Gorman reported it to Twitter and Durham police. “A lot of people are actually believing this and trying to help … Looking at the pictures it twists your stomach up,” Gorman said. “There are children who have actually lost their lives. I just don’t know how anybody could do something like this.”
Charlotte Campbell told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that her 15-year-old daughter, Olivia, was still missing. She said she had spoken to her at the concert. “She’d just seen the support act and said she was having an amazing time, and thanking me for letting her go,” she said. Olivia was with her friend Adam, who was found in hospital, but Olivia had not been seen.
Campbell said: “I’m at home phoning everybody: hospitals, police, the centres that the children have been put in. Her dad’s in Manchester looking for her. I’ve got friends looking for her. I’ve got people I don’t even know looking for her, people messaging me, saying: ‘We’ve got her photo, looking for her, we’ll get in contact if we see her’. And I’m just hearing nothing. Her phone’s dead.”Campbell said: “I’m at home phoning everybody: hospitals, police, the centres that the children have been put in. Her dad’s in Manchester looking for her. I’ve got friends looking for her. I’ve got people I don’t even know looking for her, people messaging me, saying: ‘We’ve got her photo, looking for her, we’ll get in contact if we see her’. And I’m just hearing nothing. Her phone’s dead.”
She said social media had been wonderful for spreading the news about Olivia being missing. She added: “They’ve basically told me to stay put and wait for a phone call. I daren’t leave the house just in case she somehow gets home.” Dan Hett was looking for his brother Martyn who had gone to the concert with his friend, Stuart Aspinall.
The band Little Mix tweeted an appeal for information on Chloe Rutherford, 17, and her friend Liam Curry, 19, who have been missing since the blast. The pair are from South Shields, South Tyneside, the hometown of two members of the band. Dan said on Tuesday that he still had no news of his brother - who was due to go travel to America for a two month holiday on Wednesday.
Please if anyone has information on the whereabouts of Chloe Rutherford and Liam Curry contact 07920405015 @staceylghent #Manchester pic.twitter.com/Zgrvu3qS38 Hett’s stepmother Kathryn: “We just heard he was there with friends and got separated from them. We haven’t seen him since. His phone’s off now. You can’t help thinking the longer it goes on, the worst could have happened.
On Twitter her brother, Scott Rutherford, wrote: “No words, they aren’t on any of the hospital lists, people of Manchester in houses please someone tell me you’ve taken them in for the night.” “He’s got so many friends, he has a huge network. If he was safe he would have made an attempt to get in touch with somebody.”
He added: Family members of a young couple, Chloe Rutherford, 17 and Liam Curry, 19, from South Shields, were also in Manchester searching for them.
Someone please just find me little sis man, just really need her home, want to hear her voice, pray you and Liam are okay, I love you A relative Bernard Wills, 36, said everyone was trying to do their bit.
In the early hours of the morning, a family from the Philippines told the Guardian they were searching for a missing loved one at Manchester Royal infirmary. “They are a great young couple, really loving, with a bright future ahead and there’s nobody that doesn’t like them,” he said.
A 17-year-old girl, who asked not to be named, said she was looking for her mother, last seen in the post-explosion chaos. Her mum’s injured boyfriend had been located, but her mother remained missing. “Nobody ever has a bad word to say about them, so we’re all a bit worried.
Manchester Royal infirmary’s accident and emergency department was in “complete lockdown”, according to staff. “It’s a crime scene,” said one, pointing to police forensics officers going in and out of the hospital with plastic evidence bags. “I think it was Liam’s treat to Chloe this time, they’d gone down to enjoy a night away together.”
Police officers guarded the doors, behind two red signs saying “major incident – no entry”. As ambulances began to arrive at about midnight, staff cleared A&E of all patients unconnected to the blast. The search for missing victims was complicated by the sharing on social media of apparently fake reports of victims.
At about 2.30am two more ambulances pulled into the children’s A&E, followed by a van carrying blood supplies. Throughout the night relatives arrived to see if their loved ones were at the hospital. Some found them, but others left again to check other hospitals. On the tiny Hebridean island of Barra, islanders were waiting for news of two teenagers who had travelled to Manchester for their first concert. Laura MacIntyre, 15, went missing along with her close friend Eilidh MacLeod.
Steve Rotheram, the Liverpool city region metro mayor, said his daughters had been at the venue and thanked the taxi driver who “eventually got through the traffic to pick up my two girls”. Laura was found in hospital with very serious burns on Tuesday afternoon. “We’re just getting confirmation of that ourselves,” said Donald Manford, a local councillor and great uncle of Eilidh. “She is very seriously injured and ill,” he said.
All my thoughts go out to those parents waiting to hear of the safety of their children. It's a parents worse nightmare. So, so sad. Manford said he had yet to hear any word about Eilidh, 14. “She’s a very vibrant young person, who’s very involved in the community. When we have ceilidhs, she’s a dancer and a piper,” he said earlier on Tuesday. “It’s a very anxious time.”
Stuart Aspinall, 25, said he was trying to find his friend Martyn Hett after they were separated towards the end of the gig. Aspinall shared photos of the 29-year-old, from Stockport, on Facebook.
He wrote: “The more news that is coming out, the scarier this is getting. There was an explosion at the Ariana Grande concert tonight in Manchester and I haven’t seen my friend Martyn since.”
His brother Dan told the Guardian that he still had no news of his brother. He appealed for people to donate blood and added: “I and my family condemn in the strongest possible way anyone who’s using this attack to push any political agenda today.”
Greg Southern said he was sitting in the same row as Hett. “I don’t know him but he was on the row I was on. He was stood on the exit steps on the end of our row,” Southern said. He recognised him from photos shared on Twitter. “We were at the other side of the arena from where the explosion took place. The concert had just finished and the lights had just come on. There was this absolutely tremendous bang and everybody panicked at that point.”
The audience included many young teenagers, he said. “I was there with my boyfriend, but next to us there were maybe three groups who must have been young teens, 15 or 16. In the row behind was a mother with children. The majority of people were quite young.”
The parents and friends of Laura MacIntyre and Eilidh MacLeod, both 15, from the Hebridean island of Barra, issued urgent appeals after they went missing. One of the girls’ aunts confirmed the pair had not contacted relatives since the blast.
On Facebook, Margaret MacNeil said: “Please please please share! My niece and her friend were at the Ariana Grande concert tonight and there has been no contact since the explosion. Please let us find the girls safe and well. They are Eilidh MacLeod and Laura MacIntyre.”
Laura’s father, Micheal, also issued an urgent request on Twitter for help in tracing his daughter.
Please...please reetweet. Looking for my daughter and her friend . Laura Macintyre and Eilidh Macleod #manchesterattack pic.twitter.com/1N0cikPQEfPlease...please reetweet. Looking for my daughter and her friend . Laura Macintyre and Eilidh Macleod #manchesterattack pic.twitter.com/1N0cikPQEf
Angus MacNeil, the Scottish National party MP for the Western Isles, said he knew the MacIntyres, and had spoken to both girls’ fathers on Tuesday morning. “I just can’t begin to get to the depths of their worries,” he said. “They are without doubt missing.” Eilidh’s mother, Marion, had been waiting in a hotel to hear from them when the concert ended. She received a text message to say they would be out soon. She arrived to see people running out of the building and began a desperate search for the girls, calling hospitals and visiting hotels.
He said Eilidh MacLeod’s father and members of the MacIntyre family were travelling to Manchester. MacNeil said the 1,000 islanders were now feeling extremely tense after so long without news. “Everyone hopes against hope as time goes on,” he said. “People are in shock. If you don’t know the kids, you will know their parents or their grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.”
Jordan Howe was searching hospitals in Manchester to try to find his missing stepmother, Alison Howe. “We haven’t heard anything yet. I am just about to go into another hospital, we have been looking in the hospitals for her,” he said. Another of the missing was Kaia Kopusar, 17.
Sasha Howe, from Oldham, said her mother and family friend Lisa Lees had gone to the arena to pick up their daughters from the concert. The two girls had been found, but Lees and Howe were both still missing. “[We’ve] heard nothing,” Sasha told the Guardian. Her friend Ecrin Javakovic said Kaia was from France and had travelled to Manchester for the gig. “There is still no news of her,” she said. Kaia’s parents, who are in France, had been phoning hospitals in Manchester for news of her but had heard nothing, Javakovic said.
She posted a picture of her mother and Lisa Lees on Facebook, writing: “Please get in contact if anything is heard and share this.”
Another of the missing was Kaia Kopusar, 17, according to her friend.
Ecrin Javakovic said Kaia was from France and had travelled to Manchester for the gig. “There is still no news of her,” she said. Kaia’s parents, who are in France, had been phoning hospitals in Manchester for news of her but had heard nothing, Javakovic said.
MY FRIEND @makosavenue WAS AT THE ARIANA CONCERT AND HER FAMILY CANT CONTACT HER! PLS RT SO SHE CAN BE FOUND #PrayForManchester pic.twitter.com/XFt2KLP7kdMY FRIEND @makosavenue WAS AT THE ARIANA CONCERT AND HER FAMILY CANT CONTACT HER! PLS RT SO SHE CAN BE FOUND #PrayForManchester pic.twitter.com/XFt2KLP7kd
The Polish foreign ministry confirmed that Polish citizens were among those missing after the attack. Jordan Howe spent Tuesday searching hospitals in Manchester to try to find his missing stepmother, Alison Howe, 44 who was missing with her friend Lisa Lees. “We haven’t heard anything yet. I am just about to go into another hospital, we have been looking in the hospitals for her,” he told the Guardian.
York College student Alex Klis made an appeal to find her parents, Angelika and Marcin, who have not been seen since the blast. Alison’s daughter Sasha Howe, from Oldham, said her mother and family friend Lisa Lees had gone to the arena to pick up their daughters from the concert. The two girls had been found, but Lees and Howe were both still missing. “[We’ve] heard nothing,” Sasha said.
In a Facebook post, she said: “Anyone who is in any safe place or hospital in Manchester, if anyone comes across my parents please please let me know as they’ve been missing ever since the attack, this is a picture taken tonight so this is exactly what they were wearing.” The family and friends of 14 year old Nell Jones used the hashtag PrayforNell to appeal for help in finding the teenager. Nell, a pupil at Holmes Chapel Comprehensive School, who attended the concert on crutches, has not been heard from since the concert.
York College said it understood two students had been affected by the blast. In a statement the college said: “One student sustained a head injury, the other is searching for her missing parents. We will do all we can to help and support those affected by this awful tragedy and we are shocked and deeply saddened by what has happened.” Denis Oliver, headteacher at Holmes Chapel Comprehensive School, said: “We are this morning offering support to a number of students and their families who were affected by the shocking events in Manchester last evening.
Another person missing is 14-year-old Nell Jones. A friend of the family, Louise Newbould, tweeted: “We believe that one student remains unaccounted for and I have spoken directly with the family.
Missing in @ManchesterArena attack. Nell Jones (DOB: 16.04.2003), friend is in intensive care. Please contact me with info #MENExplosion pic.twitter.com/f84apvjqdA “This is an unbelievably difficult time for everyone affected by this terrible incident and our thoughts are with the families most affected.”
Brad Jessop tweeted:
Nell Jones. Still missing. She was on crutches and hasn't been heard from! Keep looking for Nell! Family very worried! #ManchesterArena pic.twitter.com/C7gNYSQ8CfNell Jones. Still missing. She was on crutches and hasn't been heard from! Keep looking for Nell! Family very worried! #ManchesterArena pic.twitter.com/C7gNYSQ8Cf
Kelly Brewster, 32, a local government worker is also missing, the South West News Service reported. Kelly Brewster, 32, a local government worker was also missing.
Paul Dryhurst said his niece went to the arena with her sister, Claire Booth, 34, and Booth’s daughter, Hollie, 11. Paul Dryhurst’s, a relative, said she had been in the arena with her sister Claire Booth, 34 and Claire’s daughter Hollie, 11.
Booth and Hollie were being treated in hospital on Tuesday for horrific shrapnel wounds, but the family had no news of Brewster. Claire and Hollie were being treated in hospital on Tuesday for horrific shrapnel wounds, but the family had no news of the missing 32-year-old.
Speaking from his home in Sheffield, Dryhurst said the trio were walking in single file out of the arena when the blast struck, breaking Booth’s jaw and her daughter’s legs. Dryhurst said the trio were walking in single file out of the arena when the blast struck, breaking Booth’s jaw and her daughter’s legs.
“After the impact Claire had gone to Hollie but when she looked up she couldn’t find Kelly. They lost her in all the commotion,” he said. “We’ve now not heard anything for so long and are holding on to the old saying ‘no news is good news’ but the longer it goes on, the worse it feels. We may appear all right on the outside but inside we are churning.” “After the impact Claire had gone to Hollie but when she looked up she couldn’t find Kelly. They lost her in all the commotion” he said. “We may appear alright on the outside but inside we are churning.”
York College student Alex Klis has made an appeal to find her parents, Angelika and Marcin, who have not been seen since the blast.
In a Facebook post, she said: “Anyone who is in any safe place or hospital in Manchester, if anyone comes across my parents please please let me know as they’ve been missing ever since the attack, this is a picture taken tonight so this is exactly what they were wearing.”
A spokesperson from York College said they understood two students had been affected by the blast. In a statement the college said: “One student sustained a head injury, the other is searching for her missing parents. We will do all we can to help and support those affected by this awful tragedy, and we are shocked and deeply saddened by what has happened.”
An emergency number is available for those concerned about loved ones or anyone who may have been in the area. The National Casualty Bureau number to call is 0800 096 0095An emergency number is available for those concerned about loved ones or anyone who may have been in the area. The National Casualty Bureau number to call is 0800 096 0095