# Explosions at Manchester Arena (England) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 22, 2017, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-manchester-arena-england/787243 "2017-05-22T23:17:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![TwoCarrotSnowman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/twocarrotsnowman/32/15879_2.png) [@TwoCarrotSnowman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoCarrotSnowman)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-manchester-arena-england/787243/81 "2017-05-23T07:02:02Z")
> [@Staggerlee](#): > > An eyewitness on BBC news this morning said the aftermath of the explosion smelt like fireworks - I guess this means it wouldn’t be a fertilizer/peroxide bomb but something gunpowder-based? Big arena gigs have lots of pyrotechnics, so it’s possible that there would have been a firework smell anyway. Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-manchester-arena-england/787243/82 "2017-05-23T07:02:28Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Yes, they blew it up. An abandoned backpack I could understand, especially after the Boston Marathon bombing. A discarded sweater or whatever it was? C’mon guys, use your heads, at least a little. But, like I said, everyone is understandably jumpy, and they’re operating out of an abundance of caution. A bit of explosives is relatively cheap, especially when compared with the possibility of additional casualties. Plus, the bomb squad has to earn their keep. It wasn’t the bomb team, it was the fashion police. That sweater was hideous!! ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-manchester-arena-england/787243/83 "2017-05-23T07:14:27Z")
> [@Staggerlee](#): > > An eyewitness on BBC news this morning said the aftermath of the explosion smelt like fireworks - I guess this means it wouldn’t be a fertilizer/peroxide bomb but something gunpowder-based? Isn’t gunpowder extremely weak for this purpose? ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-manchester-arena-england/787243/84 "2017-05-23T07:45:47Z")
> [@Ibanez](#): > > Agreed. > > Still not allowed to identify the [common denominator](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Islamist_terrorist_attacks) when civilians are the prime targets of terrorist attacks huh. > [Not all Muslims.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XHV7SJ4xGU) This is a warning for you now too. You were told to drop it more than once in this thread with the political and other jabs. Let’s get back on topic. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-manchester-arena-england/787243/85 "2017-05-23T07:48:49Z")
I spent several happy years in Manchester. Whoever did this are scumbags, fucking scumbags. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-manchester-arena-england/787243/86 "2017-05-23T07:49:46Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > I’m honestly surprised that it took this long for something like this to happen. Erm, Bataclan? ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-manchester-arena-england/787243/87 "2017-05-23T07:53:11Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > 1. The vast majority of Muslims in the world are not terrorists. > > 2. At the same time, there is more religious terrorism conducted in the name of Islam today than in the name of any other religion on the planet. To the victims of this massacre and their loved ones it really doesn’t matter what particular ideology was perverted in the mind of some idiot extremist. In the long term though, which ideology has the most active extremists evens out over time. In the UK specifically, extremists claiming Islam as their justification for mass murder haven’t even begun to catch up with extremists that claimed the Provisional Irish Republican Army, Ulster Volunteer Force, Ulster Defense Association, and Irish National Liberation Army justified their mass murders. > [@Velocity](#): > > We shouldn’t act as if Muslims that we encounter in everyday life are terrorists, since it’s 99.9% likely that they aren’t, but we should not pretend that Islam is no different in conduct/actions than Buddhism, Shintoism, Hinduism, Taoism, etc. either. We aren’t pretending. [Extremist Buddhist Monks Target Religious Minorities](http://world.time.com/2013/06/20/extremist-buddhist-monks-fight-oppression-with-violence/) > [@](#): > > The fault lines of conflict are often spiritual, one religion chafing against another and kindling bloodletting contrary to the values girding each faith. Over the past year in parts of Asia, it is friction between Buddhism and Islam that has killed hundreds, mostly Muslims. The violence is being fanned by extremist Buddhist monks, who preach a dangerous form of religious chauvinism to their followers. [Japan’s Holy War: The Ideology of Radical Shinto Ultranationalism](https://www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/capsule-review/2009-09-01/japans-holy-war-ideology-radical-shinto-ultranationalism) > [@](#): > > … the wave of political assassinations and ideological crackdowns that led to Japanese militarism were not just about power struggles and nationalism; instead, they grew out of a fundamentalist Shinto movement promoted by certain writers whose influence has been largely overlooked… Skya finds numerous parallels with contemporary Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism. [Hinduism and Terror](https://hudson.org/research/4575-hinduism-and-terror) > [@](#): > > In the past decade, extremist Hindus have increased their attacks on Christians, until there are now several hundred per year. But this did not make news in the U.S. until a foreigner was attacked. In 1999, Graham Staines, an Australian missionary who had worked with leprosy patients for three decades, was burned alive in Orissa along with his two young sons. The brutal violence visited on Muslims in Gujarat in February 2002 also brought the dangers of Hindu extremism to world attention. Between one and two thousand Muslims were massacred after Muslims reportedly set fire to a train carrying Hindu nationalists, killing several dozen people. > > These attacks were not inchoate mob violence, triggered by real or rumored insult; rather, they involved careful planning by organized Hindu extremists with an explicit program and a developed religious-nationalist ideology. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-manchester-arena-england/787243/88 "2017-05-23T08:13:32Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > It’s a concert. Lots of people in a crowded space. That’s why they choose that place. But bombing a concert by a teen idol somehow seems more shocking than bombing one by an aging boomer nostalgia band. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-manchester-arena-england/787243/89 "2017-05-23T08:32:36Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Isn’t gunpowder extremely weak for this purpose? Gun powder surrounded by nails,ball bearings, glass or other objects is plenty strong enough to cause fatal injuries in persons unlucky enough to be in the vicinity. ---
**Author:** ![truthSeeker2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7cd45c/32.png) [@truthSeeker2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/truthSeeker2)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-manchester-arena-england/787243/90 "2017-05-23T08:36:22Z")
> [@Crazyhorse](#): > > [Hinduism and Terror](https://hudson.org/research/4575-hinduism-and-terror) It’s by no means an attempt to justify what happened, but 2 things you are missing here: 1. What started the riots - Islamic mob burnt alive 60-70 Hindu pilgrims after locking train coaches on a railway station. 2. In the riots that followed, 1/3rd of the dead were Hindus. I remember it from the official govt. records. Islam causes 99.9% terrorism in the name of religion…Maybe an understatement. Could be 99.99% or higher. Within Islam, Shias, Ahmedi etc. are relatively peaceful. Vast majority of terrorists are Sunnis. If you wanna dissect further, then wahabism…but there are obvious problems with Islam/Sunnism. 2 days back 3 Indian soldiers were killed by Pakistan trained and armed terrorists in Kashmir. Keeps on happening on daily basis… throughout the world…just that you don’t hear about it… ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-manchester-arena-england/787243/91 "2017-05-23T08:37:09Z")
> [@lisiate](#): > > But bombing a concert by a teen idol somehow seems more shocking than bombing one by an aging boomer nostalgia band. [Well, the current thinking is that it was a lone wol](http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/22/manchester-attack-this-was-a-well-thought-out-plan.html)f. In that case, more likely that he targeted what he would know about than what might lead to types of casualties ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-manchester-arena-england/787243/92 "2017-05-23T09:42:42Z")
This is a warning for failure to follow moderator’s instructions. Discussions about muslim terrorism in general, in a breaking news thread in which the terrorists have not been identified, is against the rules of this thread. > [@truthSeeker2](#): > > Islam causes 99.9% terrorism in the name of religion…Maybe an understatement. Could be 99.99% or higher. Within Islam, Shias, Ahmedi etc. are relatively peaceful. Vast majority of terrorists are Sunnis. If you wanna dissect further, then wahabism…but there are obvious problems with Islam/Sunnism. > > 2 days back 3 Indian soldiers were killed by Pakistan trained and armed terrorists in Kashmir. Keeps on happening on daily basis… throughout the world…just that you don’t hear about it… ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-manchester-arena-england/787243/93 "2017-05-23T09:45:18Z")
[The BBC](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-40010124) are reporting 22 dead and 59 injured. ---
**Author:** ![Delicious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@Delicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Delicious)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-manchester-arena-england/787243/94 "2017-05-23T10:37:02Z")
I’m a Mancunian. The arena isn’t on top of Victoria Station, they are connected though so shutting it down makes sense. There’s some road closures around the area that are delaying some stuff but nothing much else out of the ordinary that I’ve encountered. ---
**Author:** ![Delicious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@Delicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Delicious)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-manchester-arena-england/787243/95 "2017-05-23T10:59:53Z")
Just been told there’s been a second explosion at the Arndale Centre & to keep away from city centre…not confirmed yet ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-manchester-arena-england/787243/96 "2017-05-23T11:56:39Z")
> [@Delicious](#): > > Just been told there’s been a second explosion at the Arndale Centre & to keep away from city centre…not confirmed yet False alarm, I think. I guess everyone is pretty jumpy. ---
**Author:** ![TwoCarrotSnowman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/twocarrotsnowman/32/15879_2.png) [@TwoCarrotSnowman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoCarrotSnowman)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-manchester-arena-england/787243/97 "2017-05-23T11:58:41Z")
> [@Delicious](#): > > Just been told there’s been a second explosion at the Arndale Centre & to keep away from city centre…not confirmed yet You posted that nearly an hour ago, and there’s nothing being reported on the BBC, so I assume that was rumour doing the rounds. Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![TwoCarrotSnowman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/twocarrotsnowman/32/15879_2.png) [@TwoCarrotSnowman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoCarrotSnowman)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-manchester-arena-england/787243/98 "2017-05-23T12:16:26Z")
Apologies - just realised that the previous post could be read as being snarky. Absolutely wasn’t meant to be. Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-manchester-arena-england/787243/99 "2017-05-23T12:20:04Z")
Arndale evacuation not connected to bombing, per GMP, as stated by the [Manchester Evening News.](http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/manchester-arndale-shopping-centre-evacuated-13077955) The shopping centre (when in Rome…) has been evacuated and: > [@](#): > > “Police have cordoned off Market Street as investigations get under way. There is a large armed police presence at the shopping centre.” > > "Our reporter Charlotte Dobson says police told her a suspicious bag was found. > > They made sure the area was safe and are now said to be lifting the cordon. > > Cordon being lifted. Police officer just said it was a suspicious bag and that the area is safe." The Manchester Evening News site seems up to date with the latest on what’s going on during the aftermath of this tragedy. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-manchester-arena-england/787243/100 "2017-05-23T12:50:57Z")
Greatest sympathies to those injured and loved ones of the ones who died, but Ariana Grande can’t be feeling too good either. Is she somehow blaming herself? (I don’t know, but it is possible) Brian [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-manchester-arena-england/787243.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-manchester-arena-england/787243.md?page=6)