Manchester Arena blast: Police arrest woman in raid on flat

A woman has been arrested in connection with the Manchester bombing after armed police swarmed a block of flats in the north of the city.
An earlier police raid on an house in Greater Manchester. Picture: PAAn earlier police raid on an house in Greater Manchester. Picture: PA
An earlier police raid on an house in Greater Manchester. Picture: PA

Residents heard a “huge bang” as officers carrying firearms raided an address in Blackley on Wednesday evening.

Greater Manchester Police said: “A search was carried out and a woman has been arrested in connection with the investigation into the Manchester Arena incident.”

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Alex Finnie, 54, said armed police and “men who looked like soldiers” were involved in the swoop, which he believed was on the 12th floor.

He heard a noise which sounded like windows being blown out as police entered the flat.

He then saw a woman with dark hair and wearing a blue shirt with her hands cuffed behind her back and pressed up against a window.

He told the Press Association: “When the bang went I heard screaming and shouting and then they took the woman out.

“She was facing this way out the window and a couple of minutes later two armed police took her away.

“After the first one I heard loud banging on another door but on the same floor.”

The woman was driven away in a police van, he said, adding that armed police were preventing residents from accessing the floor.

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Resident Chris Barlow said there was a “huge bang” and “huge police presence”.

“There was about 30 people on the street - they said there’s been an explosion at the flats, a bomb or explosion,” he told the Press Association.

“There’s CTU (counter terrorism unit) special forces - I spoke to one officer and they said they blew the door in and took a couple of people away.”

James Mooney, 27, said his sister was inside her flat on the 12th floor and had not been in touch since the “bang” sounded at around 6.50pm.

“I was on the phone to her,” he said.

“There was a big bang and she went ‘oh no’ and she dropped her phone or something.”

The family have been unable to get hold of Louise, 34 - but said police did not appear to think there was reason for them to worry.

“I told them my daughter is in there and they just said they would update us in a bit,” father John Mooney, 53, said.

Police remain posted outside the building, with officers only allowing residents to access the last stretch of road leading to the block.