Witnesses reveal horrors of Manchester Ariana Grande concert blast

A witness to the Ariana Grande concert blast that killed 19 people and injured at least 50 more said she was left covered in blood as a "bomb" went off just metres in front of her.

Abby Mullen was one of about 20,000 people attending the concert at the largest indoor arena in Europe but decided to leave just before the final song ended in a bid to beat the traffic.

“As we were leaving a bomb or explosion went off metres in front of me,” she wrote.

“(There was blood) everywhere including in my hair and on my bag.

“That sound, the blood and those who where running around clueless... will not be leaving my mind any time soon or the minds of those involved.

Abby Mullen was one of about 20,000 people attending the concert at the largest indoor arena in Europe but decided to leave just before the final song ended in a bid to beat the traffic.

The Manchester Arena incident is now being treated as a terror attack with police confirming 19 people have been killed.

Parents of many young concert-goers are now desperately trying to get in touch with their children, while further witnesses have described the bloodied scenes.

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"It was a huge explosion - you could feel it in your chest. It was chaotic. Everybody was running and screaming and just trying to get out," Catherine Macfarlane said.

"Everyone was in a huge state of panic, calling each other as some had gone to the toilet whilst this had gone off, so it was just extremely disturbing for everyone there," Majid Khan added.

"It's shocking what happened. Just carnage everywhere. There was a good 20 to 30 of them [victims]. Some were young kids, some were disabled people," a young father added.

"It almost sounded like a gunshot. That's how I would describe it. It was very loud," a teenager named Calvin said at the scene.

Michael Sullivan who attended the concert with his daughters aged 12 and 15 said they were told to "just keep running" once they had escaped Manchester Arena.

"Just as the lights have gone down we heard a really loud explosion, everybody screamed, when we got out they just said 'keep on running, keep on running'."