Fans have taken to social media to thank singer Ariana Grande’s mother, Joan, for ‘saving lives’ last night with her quick-thinking at Manchester Arena.
According to fan reports, Joan – who was sitting in the front row watching her daughter’s show – helped to bring a number of young fans to safety backstage after the bombing.
Recounting the story overheard in a broadcast, a fan going by the Twitter handle ‘Fawkes Grandes’ wrote: “A fan did an interview with a news station just now, and talked about how Ariana’s mum literally pulled fans that were in the first few rows backstage along with security to get them to safety.
“Her family and team saved fans’ lives tonight.”
@joangrande you are a beautiful woman. Thank you for what you did with helping those traumatized fanspic.twitter.com/ldSLgEcIVF
— Symphony (@_SarayaPaige) May 23, 2017
TMZ adds that Joan and the security team stayed with the youngsters until it was safe enough for them to leave the arena.
Singer Grande has suspended her tour in the aftermath of the tragedy, which claimed the lives of 22 people. Two victims have been formally identified as 18-year-old Georgina Callender, and eight-year-old Saffie Rose Roussos.
The latest count brings the number of concert-goers injured up to 120.
Ariana has been left understandably devastated by the attack, and took to Twitter after the incident to share her sadness. She tweeted: “Broken. Broken from the bottom of my heart. I am so, so sorry. I don’t have words.”
Her management team, meanwhile, released a statement echoing her sentiments: “Words cannot express our sorrow for the victims and families harmed in this senseless attack.
“We mourn the lives of children and loved ones taken by this cowardly act. We are thankful for the selfless service tonight of Manchester’s first responders who rushed towards danger to help save lives.
“We ask all of you to hold the victims, their families, and all those affected in your hearts and prayers.”
Meanwhile, authorities have urged people not to re-post fake news online. A number of Twitter trolls have been called out for sharing photos of people whom they claim to be missing since last night’s tragedy, who were actually not in attendance at the concert.
It turns out that rumours suggesting that the nearby Holiday Inn Premier were offering refuge to some 43 children were also false.
