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Manchester Arena (currently known as AO Arena for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena in Manchester, England, immediately north of the city centre and partly above Manchester Victoria railway station in air rights space. With a capacity of 21,000 it is the second largest indoor arena in the UK after Co-op Live and fifth largest in Europe. The arena is one of the world's busiest indoor arenas, hosting music and sporting events such as boxing and swimming. The arena was a key part of Manchester's bids to host the Olympic Games in 1996 and 2000 and was eventually used for the 2002 Commonwealth Games. On 22 May 2017, the arena's foyer was the scene of a terrorist attack carried out by a suicide bomber, in which 22 people were killed and over 500 others injured following an Ariana Grande concert.
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Manchester Arena bombing
The Manchester Arena bombing, or Manchester Arena attack, was an Islamic terrorist suicide bombing of Manchester Arena in Manchester, England, on 22 May 2017, following a concert by the American pop singer Ariana Grande. Perpetrated by Islamic extremist Salman Abedi and aided by his brother, Hashem Abedi, the bombing occurred at 22:31 and killed 22 people, injured 1,017, and destroyed the arena's foyer. It was the deadliest act of terrorism and the first suicide bombing in the United Kingdom since the 7 July 2005 London bombings.
Carrying a large backpack, Abedi detonated an improvised explosive device containing triacetone triperoxide (TATP) and nuts and bolts serving as shrapnel. After initial suspicions of a terrorist network, police later said they believed Abedi had largely acted alone, but that others had been aware of his plans. In 2020, Hashem Abedi was tried and convicted for murder, attempted murder and conspiracy, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment in August 2020 with a minimum term of 55 years, the longest ever imposed by a British court. A public inquiry released in 2021 found that 'more should have been done' by British police to stop the attack, while MI5 admitted it acted too slowly in dealing with Abedi.
Grande briefly suspended her tour and hosted a benefit concert on 4 June entitled One Love Manchester, raising a total of £17 million towards victims of the bombing. Islamophobic hate crimes increased in the Greater Manchester area following the attack, according to police. Prime Minister Theresa May formed the Commission for Countering Extremism in response to the bombing.
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Strangeways Brewery
Strangeways Brewery was a landmark in Manchester, England, just north of the city centre, which was famous as the home of Boddingtons Bitter. It closed in 2005 and was demolished in 2007.
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Manchester Victoria station
Manchester Victoria in Manchester, England, is a combined main line railway station and Metrolink tram stop. Situated to the north of the city centre on Hunts Bank, close to Manchester Cathedral, it adjoins Manchester Arena which was constructed on part of the former station site in the 1990s. Opened in 1844 and part of the Manchester station group, Manchester Victoria is the city's second busiest railway station after Piccadilly, and is the busiest station managed by Northern Trains.
The station hosts local and regional services to destinations in Northern England, such as Blackburn, Rochdale, Bradford, Leeds, Newcastle, Huddersfield, Halifax, Warrington Bank Quay, Wigan, Southport, Blackpool (Sundays only) and Liverpool using the original Liverpool to Manchester line. Most trains calling at Victoria are operated by Northern Trains; TransPennine Express services call at the station from Liverpool to Newcastle/Scarborough and services towards Manchester Airport (via the Ordsall Chord) from Middlesbrough/Redcar/Newcastle.
Manchester Victoria is a major interchange for the Metrolink light rail system. Two former railway lines into the station have been converted to tram operations: the line to Bury was converted in the early 1990s, in the first phase of Metrolink construction, and the line through Oldham to Rochdale was converted during 2009–2014. In the other direction, trams switch to on-street running when they emerge from Victoria station and continue southwards through the city centre to Piccadilly or Deansgate-Castlefield.
In 2009, Victoria was voted the worst category B interchange station in the United Kingdom. The station underwent a two-year £44 million modernisation programme which was completed in August 2015. Renovation entailed electrification of lines through the station, renewed Metrolink stop with an additional platform, restoration of listed features, upgraded retail units, and a new roof. The Ordsall Chord directly linking Victoria to Oxford Road and Piccadilly was completed in December 2017.
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River Irk
The River Irk is a river in the historic county of Lancashire in North West England that flows through the northern part of Greater Manchester. It rises to the east of Royton and runs west past Chadderton, Middleton and Blackley before merging with the River Irwell, a tributary of the River Mersey, in the centre of Manchester.