A TEENAGER who was at the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester Arena when a suicide bomber struck has described the panic experienced by those who were trapped inside after the explosion.

Christina Hunt from Eccleston, who was at the concert with her 16-year-old sister Olivia, was in the arena when the bomb went off inside the foyer at the end of the show.

Speaking to the Star, the 19-year-old said: “I can't believe it happened I can't believe people have gone there to have a good time and they are never going to go home and tell their family and friends about it.

“At the time I didn’t know what was going on but I just wanted to get out of there with my sister. Words can't describe how it felt.

“How bad must a person be to target an arena filled mostly with young people and kids? They carelessly caused so much pain and for what?

“Lives have been taken away in what should have been a good night.”

The attack happened after the lights came on at the end of the show, marking the end of the concert.

The man was in the foyer of the arena, where most people exit to get the train home.

Edge Hill student Christina added: “The show had just finished and the lights came on, we were about to leave and I took the exit near where we were sat.

“At the last minute mum said she would take us and pick us up and she always waits at Hunts Bank, so instead of going in the foyer like I usually would we went a different way.

“As we were walking out we heard a bang at the back of the arena and then it went quiet for a second before everyone just started running and shouting, ‘there’s a bomb.’

“Me and my sister couldn't get out we were trapped...it was so scary.

“All I thought about was getting Olivia out of there, I needed to protect her.

“People were jumping from bannisters to get out. People were having panic attacks in front of us, we couldn’t move. We couldn’t do anything.

“A man came on the stage and told us it was all going to be alright and we were stuck in there for 25 minutes but it felt like forever.

“We were crying in the car all the way home.

“We will never get over this. I’m not going to remember a fantastic concert that we had been counting down to, instead we will remember the fear and horror of that attack.”

Christina and Olivia’s mum Barbara Hunt, 54, who has been outside the arena during the attack, added: “I’m just so relieved that last minute I offered to take them and pick them up because otherwise she would have drove and gone into that foyer.

“I don’t know why I said I would take them but I will be grateful every day that I did.

“We heard a bang, seconds later we heard a pause and then an avalanche of people fell out of the stadium.

“After that we saw injured kids, kids wandering alone and heard screaming. It was awful.

“I text Christina so I knew they were both okay but what we saw was terrible.

“Whoever did this is an animal. People have died because of them, it’s just disgusting.”