Witnesses have spoken of the "devastation" that followed the attack in Manchester arena on Monday night, which killed 22 people and injured dozens more.
Parents of children who were at the Ariana Grande concert described how they could "smell burning" and see "bodies everywhere", as well as nuts and bolts strewn across the floor, after the blast struck.
Jenny Brewster, who was leaving the concert with her 11-year-old daughter when the attack took place on Monday night, told Sky News: “We got to the car which was 10 seconds away, and as soon as we got there we could smell the burning.
“Coming out then with quite a fluid operation there were people around us. Children were devastated. We could see police running in front of our car, emergency services with huge red backpacks on them running into the building.
“We managed to get away within about three of four minutes. But it was devastating.”
Gary Walker, who was injured on the foot and whose wife sustained a stomach wound when the blast struck while they were waited for their two daughters to come out of the arena, said he saw nuts and bolts on the floor following the explosion.
He told BBC 5 Live News: “There was a big flash and then a whoosh of air. I just thought what the hell’s that. And then a smell in the air. My ears started ringing.
"I looked back at where the explosion was and there were people laid out on the floor. Turned around to look at my wife, and she said no I need to lay down.
“I saw bolts and there was glass all over the floor. I picked up a nut. I’m in the building trade and I know what a nut is, and it was a large one."
Another witness, Andy Holey, who had gone to the arena to pick up his wife and daughter who had been at the concert, said he was thrown across the foyer with the force of the explosion, and then saw "bodies lying across the ground".
“An explosion went off and it threw me about 30ft from one set of doors to the other set of doors. When I got up I saw bodies lying on the ground," Mr Holey told the BBC.
"My first thought was to go into the arena to try to find my family. I managed to find them eventually and they're okay.”
Emma Johnson, who was at the venue with her husband to pick up her children, aged 15 and 17, told BBC Radio Manchester: “We were stood at the top of the stairs and the glass exploded - it was near to where they were selling the merchandise.
“The whole building shook. There was a blast and then a flash of fire afterwards. There were bodies everywhere.”
Police have said the sole attacker died in the explosion, and that he was a lone male who was carrying an improvised explosive device which he detonated.
Chief Constable Ian Hopkins of Manchester Police said a “fast-moving investigation” had established the attack was conducted by one man, although detectives are working to establish if he was “was acting alone or as part of a network”.
At least 22 people have died, among them children, and 59 more were injured after the terrorist bombing tore through the concert venue at around 22:35 on Monday.
