Manchester victims’ families at Etihad stadium awaiting news

About 10 to 12 families of the victims of the Manchester Arena attack have gathered in the Etihad Stadium, home to Manchester City football club, to await news about their relatives.

Greater Manchester Police urged anyone who needed help or assistance to come to the stadium where they had set up a centre for family and friends. There was a strong police presence outside as some family members came and left the Etihad, which is about four kilometres from Manchester Arena in the east of the city.

Neil Pemberton, senior emergency response officer with the British Red Cross which has one staff and volunteers, providing support to the families, described the scene inside as "very sombre."

"Some people have been in a situation where they have heard some news. Some people are still waiting for news and some people are still waiting to hear any information at all," he told The Irish Times.

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“People are at very different stages of emotion but it is obviously very sombre and people are still coming to terms with the situation and the shock of the incident from last night.”

Mr Pemberton said that the families were enduring a range of emotions.

“It is very difficult for those friends and family where they have seen some of those shocking images that people have seen on the news, the videos…. There is that hope that they will be going through and some of the worry that the worst might have happened to one of their friends or family,” he said.

“It is obviously a very trying situation for people. It is a very emotional time for a lot of the people who are inside.”