Huge Manchester shopping mall evacuated amid bomb fears

Police ordered the emergency evacuation of a huge shopping mall in Manchester, England, on Tuesday, hours after a deadly suicide bombing killed 22 people at a pop concert in the city the night before.

Video filmed on cellphones and posted to social media showed panicked shoppers fleeing the Arndale shopping mall.

Armed police and sniffer dogs were seen entering the site at around midday.

British media reported that a man was arrested and a suspicious package was found in the food hall of the complex.

A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police confirmed a man was arrested and said “this is not currently believed to be connected to last night’s attack,” The Independent newspaper reported.

Shoppers were eventually permitted to return to the mall.

https://twitter.com/dobsonMEN/status/866962470216314881

Armed police are clearing the area beneath the Arndale Food Court windows after a man was arrested. Sniffer dogs have gone in. pic.twitter.com/JgC8J2QxYR

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Manchester police said Monday an apparent suicide bomber set off an improvised explosive device at the end of an Ariana Grande concert in the northeastern UK city. Many of those killed and injured were reportedly children.

There was mass panic after the explosion at the end of the concert, which was part of Grande’s The Dangerous Woman Tour.

The Islamic State group claimed the attack.

Chief Constable Ian Hopkins said forensic investigations are continuing to determine if the attacker had accomplices. He provided no information about the individual who detonated the device. British Prime Minister Theresa May told press Tuesday that security services had discovered the identity of the bomber but that the details were not yet available for publication.