MANCHESTER, United Kingdom: The city of Manchester on Tuesday marks the first anniversary of a bomb attack outside a pop concert by teen idol Ariana Grande that killed 22 people with flower tributes, a concert and a memorial service.
Prime Minister Theresa May and Prince William will join families of the victims -- seven of whom were children under the age of 18 -- for a ceremony to remember the May 22 Manchester Arena attack.
They will attend the service at Manchester Cathedral alongside first responders, civic leaders and some of the scores injured in the bombing. Salman Abedi, a British man of Libyan heritage, blew himself up outside the venue, but an investigation into how the attack came about is still ongoing.
"The targeting of the young and innocent as they enjoyed a carefree night out... was an act of sickening cowardice," Theresa May wrote in the city’s local paper the Manchester Evening News. "It was designed to strike at the heart of our values and our way of life in one of our most vibrant cities, with the aim of breaking our resolve and dividing us. It failed."
The prime minister said that "such appalling acts of wickedness" would strengthen Britain’s resolve "to defeat such twisted ideologies and beliefs". Manchester United and England striker Marcus Rashford paid tribute to his home city, writing on the club’s website about the "unimaginable" attack. "Nobody will ever forget what happened but the way Manchester pulled together shows you everything you need to know about the people here. Seeing how everyone reacted made me so proud to be a Mancunian."
