Blackpool school receptionist feared dead in Manchester attack

Tributes have been paid to a school receptionist believed to have been killed in the terror attack in Manchester.
Emergency services at Manchester Arena after reports of an explosion at the venue during an Ariana Grande gig (Pic: Peter Byrne/PA Wire)Emergency services at Manchester Arena after reports of an explosion at the venue during an Ariana Grande gig (Pic: Peter Byrne/PA Wire)
Emergency services at Manchester Arena after reports of an explosion at the venue during an Ariana Grande gig (Pic: Peter Byrne/PA Wire)

Jane Tweedle, a popular member of staff at South Shore Academy, is feared to be among the 22 people who died in Monday’s suicide bomb blast.

Other victims include an eight-year-old from Tarleton near Preston, and an 18-year-old student at Runshaw College, in Leyland.

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Around 120 people were hurt, with roughly half that number needing hospital treatment.

The Islamic State terror group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which was the deadliest terrorist incident to hit Britain since the July 7 attacks in London in 2005 and ‘the worst ever to hit the North’, according to Prime Minister Theresa May.

It happened shortly after 10.30pm, when a lone bomber detonated a homemade device packed with nuts and bolts in the foyer of Manchester Arena, where thousands of families had just finished watching a concert by US pop star Ariana Grande.

Hundreds of emergency services personnel were involved in the response as children became separated from their parents and families desperately tried to track down loved ones.

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Many people responded with offers of shelter or lifts home to those stranded by the attack but the true scale of the devastation became clear yesterday.

Writing about Ms Tweedle on Facebook, Wayne Wareing wrote: “We had some laughs when I came in school for Richard. You always seemed to make me walk out laughing when I came in raging.

“You had a big heart and a loveable character. My thoughts are with everyone that lost someone in Manchester.”

And Jennie Dingle described her as a ‘lovely woman’, adding: “RIP, Jane.”