Best friends injured after passing just yards from Arena bomber, Inquiry hears

A teenager and her best friend were injured in the Manchester Arena terror attack as they passed just yards from the suicide bomber as he detonated his device, a public inquiry heard.

Amelia "Millie'' Tomlinson was linking arms with Lucy Jarvis as the elated teenagers left the Ariana Grande concert attended by thousands of excited youngsters in May 2017.

Just yards away was stood Salman Abedi, surrounded by parents, waiting for the crowds of youngsters to emerge into the City Room foyer of the venue.

Both teenagers, then aged 17, were injured as a smiling Abedi detonated his device, sending nuts and bolts shredding everything in their path and killing 22 bystanders in the terror attack.

Ms Tomlinson, now aged 21, from Wigan, told the public inquiry sitting in Manchester: "As we came through the foyer I remember I had my phone because I was going to phone my mum.

"All of a sudden I felt like this warm gush of air hit me and I felt really warm, like when you jump in a pool.

"I felt my body getting thrown around. I remember going into a ball. I had my eyes closed.

"I opened my eyes, I could see loads of smoke.

"I could see loads of people on the ground, like the victims, on the ground.

"I could see Lucy and me had been blown apart.

"We both just looked at each other and knew something really bad had happened and we managed to get up and run back through the doors.

"I remember feeling like I could not run, but did not know why. A bolt had gone through my shoe and foot.

"I could tell Lucy was quite severely injured.

"At this point Lucy sat down on the steps and said she could not walk and was going to die, and I could tell she was losing lots of blood.''

Ms Tomlinson had also suffered injuries to her fingers and struggled to work a phone, but managed to call Ms Jarvis's mother to say there had been a bombing.

She and Ms Jarvis had grown up watching Ariana Grande on TV children's channel Nickelodeon and were excited to see her perform, listening to her albums as they spent hours choosing outfits and getting ready, she told the inquiry.

Ms Jarvis was taken from the Arena by emergency responders and Robert MacFarlane, a first aider working for the Arena, wrapped Ms Tomlinson's injured fingers up and took her outside.

The street was in "chaos'', Ms Tomlinson said, but she managed to meet up with her mother and grandmother, who had driven them to the event, and Mr MacFarlane drove them all to Manchester Royal Infirmary so the injured teenager could be treated.

The public inquiry is looking at the events around the bombing by Abedi, 22, on May 22 2017.