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VIDEO: Manchester Terror Attack: The Day After

  • NQ's Rami Mwamba went into Manchester the day after the attack to gauge the reaction of the people to the atrocity 

Armed police could be spotted in an around the Arndale and Piccadilly gardens with many stores looking to have closed for the day as the centre was evacuated.

The city of Manchester was on high alert after the horrific terror attacks at the Ariana Grande concert, on Monday 22nd May at the Manchester Arena, that saw, 22 deaths, including one of 8-year-old Saffie Roussos and left 63 others badly injured.

The morning after, the popular Arndale Centre in Manchester, was evacuated after it was reported that the police had made an arrest, an arrest that the police have since stated is not in connection with the incident at the Manchester Arena. Piccadilly and the Arndale Centre were busy, but not the busy we’re accustomed to in the usually loud, vibrant and bustling city centre.

Many people were either on their phones to loved ones, frantically explaining events to them as they unfolded or reminding them how much they loved them, stood anxiously still as they waited to return to work or hurrying away from the scene in fear of a repeat of another terror attack. Policemen and women were as calm as ever, answering people’s enquiries and keeping crowds calm and content and explaining as much as they could, dutifully doing their job.

Music was in the air, to calm nerves and raise spirits, that’s one thing you could always count on in Manchester, music and rain. A restless section of the crowd began a very loud conversation; the men’s booming voices vowing to lay the blame of the fatal attacks on nobody but the murderers responsible

Monday night’s terror attack was the worst this country has seen since the London 7/7 bombings, the age of the young victims adds even more emphasis on the evil of the attack, many can be forgiven for predicting the violence or anger that this will elicit, and I’m sure it will, it should, but the people of Manchester are determined to not let that happen.

They’ve made it loud and clear, from the hundreds of people who spent their Tuesday in the glorious sun at the ever-picturesque Piccadilly gardens, in deep reflection. To the hundreds who attended the vigil to pay their respects to the dead and their families and wish well of the injured, strength and solidarity will be the response.