The youngest victim of the Manchester suicide bombing Saffie Roussos desperately called out for her mother while a man desperately tried to save her in his arms.
Saffie, eight, was close to the foyer when bomber Salman Abedi detonated an improvised explosive device which killed 22 people – including children.
Forklift truck driver Paul Reid, 43, had been at the Ariana Grande concert and sprinted back into Manchester Arena after hearing the bomb go off.
He picked up the dying girl, from Tarleton, Lancashire, in his arms and tried to calm her down during the chaos on Monday night.
He has now described the ‘devastating’ moment he saw people’s bodies strewn across the floor just inside the doors of the 21-000 capacity venue.
Speaking through tears, he told The Sun: ‘She was a dying little girl and she just wanted her mum. It was devastating.’
He was one of the first people to alert the police to the atrocity and described seeing a ‘boom’ before smoke started to fill the room.
The father added: ‘I ran back up the stairs and I was actually looking for a terrorist. I knew it had been a bomb.
‘People were shouting, running and screaming. I will never forget the sounds. Inside the hall was absolute chaos. There were people lying all over the place.
‘There were people dead everywhere and people running in a panic towards the train station.’
He recalled the moment he saw Saffie, who attended the event with her mother Lisa and her half-sister Ashlee Bromwich, 25.
Her mother is in intensive care, and may not know her daughter was killed.
Mr Reid added: ‘She said “where’s my mum?” I said to her “I don’t know but we are going to find her in a minute. Don’t worry, we are going to sort it out. You are going to be all right”.
‘The little girl’s legs were mangled in a bad way and she had a big round hole above her hip but there was no blood coming out of it. She also had a big head injury to her temple.’
He then made a stretcher with police officers using an advertising board and placed the youngster on it.
She was then placed in ambulance and he said that he will ‘never forget her’.
A family friend of tragic Saffie described her father as ‘completely broken.’
The group were due to be collected by Saffie’s Greek Cypriot dad Andreas – known as Andrew.
Family friend Salman Patel, 33, works at the Post Office as a counter clerk opposite the family home in Leyland, Lancashire.
Mr Patel said: ‘Andrew is completely broken and last night he was in the chip shop but I didn’t speak to him.’
He said he understood Ashlee is recovering well, even though she is still suffering from ‘shock’.
But he could not confirm if Lisa was still in a coma but previously said it was understood that she was unaware her daughter is dead.
Mr Patel added: ‘I know the girls quite well, they would come into the shop and buy sweets.
‘I was disappointed, these things are unacceptable. These things really annoy me, she was just a little girl.
‘I spoke to Andrew just last week, we see each other every day. The other daughter is fine now, she’s injured and is still in shock.
‘She was a really nice girl, I have seen her playing outside the chippy on her scooter and with other girls in the local area. They are in my prayers.’
Source: Eight-year-old terror victim cried out for her mother | Daily Mail Online
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