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Manchester Arena Explosion: What We Know and Don’t Know

Three hours after an explosion rocked Manchester Arena in England at the end of a performance by the pop star Ariana Grande, here is what is known.

What We Know

• At least 19 people were killed and some 50 people wounded in an explosion around 10:35 p.m. on Monday in the foyer outside the main hall of the arena.

• The police said they were treating the case “as a terrorist incident.”

• The crowd was filled with teenagers and other young fans of Ms. Grande, a 23-year-old American singer. She was not hurt.

• The arena, built in 1995, can fit up to 21,000 people; it was not clear how many were inside on Monday evening.

• People described a scene of pandemonium and mayhem after the explosion.

• Manchester Victoria station, a rail terminal next to the arena, was evacuated.

• Rail service at the terminal, a major transportation hub in the city, was suspended late Monday night and will remain suspended all of Tuesday. At least one explosion occurred in a foyer of the Manchester Arena, which connects to the rail station, the police said.

• Manchester’s light rail service, Metrolink, was also suspended at the station.

• The explosion evoked memories of the November 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris, which targeted a concert hall and a soccer stadium, along with bars and restaurants.

• Terrorism remains a significant threat in Britain. On March 22, a 52-year-old British man rammed a car into a crowd of pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, outside Parliament, killing four of them. He then fatally stabbed a police officer guarding Parliament before he was fatally shot by the police. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack.

• Britain has been on the second-highest terrorism alert level since August 2014. The level, “severe,” means that an attack is highly likely, and is only one level below the highest, “critical.” Britain raised it in 2014, citing increasing threats by the Islamic State. The threat level, which is set by the country’s security service, MI5, has stayed at “severe” ever since.

What We Don’t Know

• NBC News, citing American intelligence officials, reported that the explosion was the work of a suicide bomber, but that account could not be immediately confirmed.

• The type of weapon or bomb used in the attack.

• The identity of the attacker or attackers, and a motive. No individual or group has taken responsibility for the explosion.

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The man suspected in a deadly explosion Monday night outside a concert in Manchester, England, is 22-year-old Salman Abedi, a British official said Tuesday.

Abedi used a homemade bomb to kill himself and 22 others at the Manchester Arena. Authorities have not yet speculated on a motive. Abedi was known to British authorities prior to the attack, CBS reported.

Abedi was registered as living in a Manchester house where police set off a controlled explosion Tuesday, the Associated Press reported, citing voting records. He was born in Britain in 1994 to parents who came to the country from Libya, according to an official who spoke to The New York Times.

The explosion sent people fleeing just after a concert headlined by American singer Ariana Grande. In addition to the dead, at least 59 people were injured.

Victims included teenagers and young children. It was the deadliest mass killing in Britain since the 2005 London subway bombings, which left 52 people dead.

British Prime Minister Theresa May called the explosion “a callous terror attack” and said it was “among the worst terrorist incidents we have ever experienced in the United Kingdom.”

“This attack stands out for its appalling, sickening cowardice, deliberately targeting innocent, defenseless children and young people,” she said.

Police also arrested a 23-year-old as part of their investigation. The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the bombing in a statement released on Tuesday, though it wasn’t clear whether the terror group had any direct role in planning the attack.

“The priority remains to establish whether he was acting alone or as part of a network,” Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Ian Hopkins said in a press conference.

The explosion occurred just outside the arena at 10:35 p.m., with terrified fans running to safety. Dozens of people described scenes of panic as parents and relatives searched for children who had attended the sold-out show.

“My husband and I were standing against the wall, luckily, and all of a sudden there was this thing. I can’t even describe it,” Elena Semino, a mother who was waiting to pick up her 17-year-old daughter, told The Guardian. “There was this heat on my neck, and when I looked up, there were bodies everywhere.”

The U.K. has remained on heightened alert for months over the threat of a terrorist attack. MI5, the country’s domestic intelligence agency, had previously set the country’s terrorist threat level at “severe,” the second-highest level.

Manchester Arena is one of Europe’s largest with a capacity of 21,000. (In comparison, New York City’s Madison Square Garden can seat around 20,000 depending on the event.) Since it opened in 1995, the arena has hosted popular international sporting events, comedy shows and concerts, including American acts like Chris Rock, Madonna and Lady Gaga, as well as British groups Oasis, The Verve and The Charlatans.