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Eyewitness Karen Ford told the BBC that the \"huge sound ... sounded like an explosion went off.\"

\"Everyone just stopped and turned around, and then somebody shouted 'it’s a bomb' and everyone just started running,\" she continued. \"Everybody was trying to push people up the stairs. There was a lot of children there without parents. There was no one to calm them down so everyone was just screaming, crying and pushing.\"

Concertgoers said people tried to help each other as they were running from the building.

\"Everyone was trying really to protect the kids,\" Rivero said. \"While we were going out just outside there was a massive staircase, it was a woman in a wheelchair stuck there ... and it was a lot of stairs so we tried to help her.\"

Emergency personnel treated some of the injured at Manchester Victoria railway station near the arena.

\"PHOTO:
Dave Thompson/Getty Images
PHOTO: Members of the public receive treatment from emergency service staff at Victoria Railway Station close to the Manchester Arena on May 23, 2017 in Manchester, England.
>

Andy Holey, another eyewitness, told the BBC that he was waiting outside the concert and was blown over by the force of what he described as an \"explosion.\" When he awoke, he said he saw many casualties around him. He added that it was unclear if they were injured or dead.

Manchester Arena sent out a tweet after the incident, saying the reported explosion happened outside the concert venue.

pic.twitter.com/cPwkQbrYp2

— Manchester Arena (@ManchesterArena) May 23, 2017

Reps for Grande confirmed that she was not harmed. The singer tweeted a few hours later.

broken.
from the bottom of my heart, i am so so sorry. i don't have words.

— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) May 23, 2017

U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May said in a statement that they \"are working to establish the full details of what is being treated by the police as an appalling terrorist attack.\"

\"All our thoughts are with the victims and the families of those who have been affected,\" she added.

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