An Ariana Grande fan who was apparently separated from her friend after the Manchester blast was found safe last night, thanks to the help of strangers social media.
An Ariana Grande fan who apparently got separated from her friend in the commotion of the deadly Manchester blast was found safe last night, thanks to the help of strangers and a social media movement that was launched to track her down.
The girl, Heather, 16, was located after her friend, Riley, tweeted a photo of her wearing a yellow sweatshirt.
Over 28,000 users on the social media platform retweeted the image of Heather, with many offering suggestions on how to find her.
My friend Heather was at the Ariana concert She’s wearing a yellow hoodie and I cant get hold of her If anyones seen her please let me know pic.twitter.com/e9gvaMNegq
@yoyoyobangtan pic.twitter.com/A9CTrn2gA7
“My friend Heather was at the Ariana concert, ” Riley wrote in the caption. “She’s wearing a yellow hoodie and I cant get hold of her.
If anyones [sic] seen her please let me know.”
One hour later, Nathan Lamb, 17, replied to Riley: “She’s with us at our hotel, ” he wrote.
She came down from Scotland on her own, shes only 16 and her phone’s switched off, she may be around the Premier Inn area
UPDATE: I called the local Holiday Inn and she isn’t there.
She’s with us at our hotel https: //t.co/roSfVSTYiY
According to Riley’s tweets, Heather traveled from Scotland to Manchester, England, on her own to attend the Ariana Grande concert. Riley took to social media after she and Heather were apparently separated.
Soon, Lamb replied to Riley with a photo of her friend.
“She’s safe, ” he wrote. “…we saw her on the street and her phone was dead so we let her stay with us.”
@RileyBlackery She’s safe, we’re at a premier inn right now on Medlock street, we saw her on the street and her phone was dead so we let her stay with us pic.twitter.com/iPY3K8sk1b
Riley then updated Twitter users: “We got [a] hold of her, she’s safe!! She’s okay.”
After the attack, an outpouring began on social platforms of users offering up extra rooms, couches, beds and food under the hashtag #RoomForManchester. Like Blackery, many also took to Twitter in response to pleas for information about missing friends and loved ones.
ABC News’ J. Gallagher contributed to his report.
