Manchester attack: How mums and dads helped their kids escape the carnage

Ariana Grande had just finished performing to thousands of young fans in Manchester when chaos broke out.

At least 22 people were killed and 59 others taken to hospital after a suicide bomber blew himself up in the Manchester Arena.

Europe correspondent Steve Cannane spoke with a number of parents who described the harrowing scenes as they tried to usher their children to safety.

'I saw two little girls screaming with no parents'

"Our initial thought was just to protect the [two kids]. We went down the stairs, which was difficult because everyone was shrieking and screaming and there was people laying down on the floor, trying to protect themselves," said Chloe Naynan.

"We hugged our daughters so there was nobody that could squash them as we were coming down the stairs…

"I saw two little girls screaming with no parents… they came with us and they were hysterical.

"We got them to the hotel and the little girl's phone rang and it was the paramedic saying that they had her dad in the ambulance.

"We kept those little girls until about quarter past five this morning."

'Once we got up the stairs and saw all the blood it hit home'

"The only way to describe the crowd is that it was like a swarm of bees. Everybody was screaming and pushing. It was just big scramble," said Alex Bell.

"When we did get to the top it was just smoke and blood on the floor. People's shoes had been abandoned and it was just absolutely horrific.

"As a mother your priority is your child. Melissa [her daughter] was pretty calm. I think once we got up the stairs and saw all the blood it hit home. Everybody just fell apart.

Ms Bell added Melissa had been "very tearful and quiet" since the incident.

"I'd say she's deeply traumatised like myself. To be honest I haven't stopped crying."

'It's just young kids enjoying themselves'

Brooke Sullivan: "It just went from one extreme to the other. We were really happy at the concert and then it took a turn for the worst and we were a bit scared."

Lee Rogers was waiting outside the concert to pick the girls up, and met up with them again in a hotel nearby.

"It was horrendous [arriving] because you don't know what you're coming to — you don't know where they are and it's just horrendous. Terrible," he said.

Michelle Sullivan: "I'm just really angry. What a selfish action. It's just young kids enjoying themselves, it's just really upsetting. And some of the kids, their parents were waiting outside and because it was such a scramble to get out, they couldn't find each other.

"I just grabbed [my daughters] by the shoulders, grabbed their coats basically and dragged them out."

'He was just holding me and keeping me close'

David Richardson: "I just wouldn't let my daughter go — I dragged her out."

Emily: "He was just holding me and keeping me close… he kept me safe."

"It wasn't really what we saw it was what we heard. There was just a loud bang. We went outside, there were people lying and bleeding on the street."

Mr Richardson also described street sellers trying to continue selling merchandise amid the chaos.