Royals

Prince William visits Manchester to thank people for their strength

The royal made the surprise visit to pay tribute to the local community

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Prince William has paid a visit to Manchester to talk to people in the city after the suicide bombing attack at an Ariana Grande concert.

William has thanked first responders and members of the local community for all their hard work and acknowledged their “strength, decency and kindness”.

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He stopped at the Greater Manchester Police headquarters first of all, and spoke to those who had been first on the scene minutes after the bomb went off.

22 people were killed during the attack after 22-year-old Salman Abedi set off the nail bomb attached to himself.

The 35-year-old prince was also told about the work that is going on now so that the public are kept safe.

He also spoke to Michael Buckley who helped the sick and dying in the foyer while also looking for his 15-year-old daughter.

“I wanted to know where she was and whether she was OK and then there were all these other people badly injured too,” the 47-year-old said.

Luckily, the father found his daughter in a nearby hotel and they were reunited, though she was “very, very shaken” after being crushed trying to escape.

“She ran to me but I couldn’t hold her because I was covered in blood. I told her I have got other peoples’ blood all over me.

He told William how he tried to save as many as possible.

“There was one lady who died three times and we got her back three times and then we lost her the fourth time. It was very difficult.”

“It was just absolute chaos with people running and screaming in different directions,” he said.

“I was just trying to feed back to comms what I was seeing and hearing. At the time you don’t know the bigger picture.”

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William later attended Manchester Cathedral where he met Haseeb Khan, 23, who with twin brother Bilal helped all of the workers by delivering food and water after the attack.

The royal also wrote in the book of condolence at the cathedral, writing: “Manchester’s strength and togetherness is an example to the world.

“My thoughts are with all those affected.”


Nancy Brown
Associate Editor

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