A spectacular drone display to mark seven years since the Manchester Arena bombing and to remember the 22 innocent victims killed in the tragedy has been cancelled due to weather concerns.
Wednesday (May 22) will mark the seventh anniversary of the atrocity, with a poignant drone display originally planned over the Glade of Light, a memorial opened by the now Prince and Princess of Wales ahead of the fifth anniversary.
People were invited to congregate on Cathedral Approach from 10pm to watch the display, which will culminate in the ringing of the bells at Manchester Cathedral.
READ MORE Manchester Victoria station to fall silent on seven-year anniversary of Arena attack
However it has since been confirmed that the drone display has been called off due to weather warnings. Greater Manchester is among the areas hit by a yellow Met Office alert for rain on Wednesday and Thursday.
The concept behind the display was thought up by Andrew Roussos, the father of eight-year-old Saffie-Rose Roussos, the youngest victim of the attack, with the support of Andy Burnham. Andrew had worked with a specialist company to create the display, which he said would be ‘absolutely beautiful.’
The Mayor said the dazzling display would have been ‘very personal and poignant’.
Suicide bomber Salman Abedi, 22, detonated a device in a rucksack as crowds left an Ariana Grande concert at the venue on May 22, 2017, in the deadliest terrorist attack in the UK since the 7/7 London bombings in 2005.
Greater Manchester Police estimate there were 940 victims of the attack who survived. Of those, 337 people were in the City Room blast zone at the time of the explosion and a further 92 people were in the immediate vicinity.
Of the victims, 237 people were physically injured. A total of 111 people required hospital treatment, with 91 categorised as being seriously or very seriously injured.
Manchester Victoria station will once again fall silent to mark the seventh-anniversary of the terror attack. A minute’s silence will be held at the station during a special memorial service at 12pm, led by the rail chaplain Mike Roberts.
A second minute’s silence will then take place at 10.31pm to mark the moment of the attack. Craig Harrop, regional director for Northern in the North West, said: “The Manchester Arena attack has had a lasting impact on the station staff and customers at Manchester Victoria.
“As we mark the seventh anniversary of the attack, we remember the 22 victims and all those affected by what happened that night.”
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