Emmerdale’s Isabel Hodgins witnessed the horrifying terrorist attack that unfolded after Ariana Grande’s concert at Manchester Arena on Monday (22.05.17) night.
The 23-year-old actress – who portrays Victoria Sugden in the long-running soap – was left fearing for her life last night when she was leaving the venue in Manchester, north west England, after the show to discover someone had let off an explosion in the foyer.
Speaking on ‘Good Morning Britain’, she said: "I think everybody was on a high because it had been a really good night and then all of a sudden everything changed. Just like that as soon as we heard that bang the whole mood changed. Lots of people running around, lots of people crying. At first I didn’t know if it was somebody with a gun. There was just the one bang and that was it. There was an overpowering smell of burning and if you looked down the corridor there was a lot of white smoke. Outside there was sheer panic. We saw police arriving and police assembling guns."
The tragedy claimed the lives of at least 22 people – many of which were thought to be children – and over 50 people were injured and required medical assistance in hospital.
Isabel said: "People go and have a nice time and they’ve done nothing wrong. The fact that there was so many young children there it’s just despicable."
The brunette beauty wasn’t the only one riddled with panic as the incident unfolded as Julie Hesmondhalgh was patiently waiting to hear from her husband Ian Kershaw and her 15-year-old daughter Martha as they were also at the ‘Problem’ singer’s concert.
The former ‘Coronation Street’ star was initially told by her husband that the loud bang was a balloon, which was released during the show, popping by a microphone.
Once it became known that the explosion was actually a suspected bomb, she received a barrage of abuse from fans on Twitter for claiming it was a balloon.
She said: "You can maybe imagine how confusing and frightening it was for me, having my fam there & conflicting reports. (sic)"
Julie’s husband and daughter made it back home safely.
Emmerdale’s Isabel Hodgins caught up in terrorist attack
