Emergency services arrive close to the Manchester Arena | Dave Thompson/Getty Images 22 dead in suicide bombing at UK’s Manchester Arena Blast reported near the bar area of concert hall towards end of sold out Ariana Grande performance.

LONDON — At least 22 people were killed and scores injured in an explosion at a pop concert in Manchester, England on Monday evening.

Greater Manchester Police confirmed that children were among those killed in the blast just after 10:30 p.m. Chief Constable Ian Hopkins in a press conference said the attack appeared to have been perpetrated by a single suicide bomber who also died at the scene.

The attacker was Salman Abedi, a British man of Libyan origin who was born in 1994, Western European security officials told POLITICO. Police later confirmed his identity,

In a tweet, the North West Ambulance Service said it had "taken 59 casualties from the Manchester Arena incident to various hospitals and treated a number of walking wounded on scene."

The incident took place outside the venue as people were leaving the performance by U.S. singer Ariana Grande, Manchester Arena tweeted. The concert was sold out.

Britain’s Home Secretary Amber Rudd condemned the “barbaric attack” that deliberately targeted "some of the most vulnerable in our society — young people and children out at a pop concert.

The police set up an emergency line for those concerned about loved ones. The number is 0161 856 9400.

British Prime Minister Theresa May received the news of the explosion shortly after 10:30 p.m. on Monday night as she worked in Downing Street.

She worked through the night, receiving regular updates from her security officials, and released an official statement after 2 a.m., before calling Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour Party, at around 4 a.m., where they agreed upon a break in election campaigning as a mark of respect.

If she got any sleep at all — her official spokesman would not be drawn on whether she did — it is likely to have been at this point.

Corbyn responded to the incident on Twitter. “Terrible incident in Manchester. My thoughts are with all those affected and our brilliant emergency services,” he wrote.

By 9 a.m., the prime minister was chairing a meeting of the government’s emergency Cobra committee, alongside her most senior cabinet ministers including Rudd and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. The Labour mayor of Manchester, Andy Burnham, joined the call via video link.

Shortly after the meeting, May fielded a call from Donald Trump, who was phoning from Israel on the second stop of his first international visit as U.S. president before he arrives in Brussels on Thursday for a NATO summit.

Throughout the rest of the day May took calls from Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, who is hosting G7 leaders in Sicily on Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron and Australia’s Malcolm Turnbull. The prime minister was expected to speak with Germany’s Angela Merkel later Tuesday.

At just after 11 a.m., May appeared in public for the first time since the attack, condemning the “appalling, sickening cowardice” of the suicide bomber.

After addressing reporters outside Number 10, May was whisked out of Downing Street in a car to travel to Manchester where she visited victims at the Manchester Children’s Hospital for what her official spokesman described as a “private visit.”

May then visited the city’s town hall to sign a book of condolence, before heading back to the capital to chair a second Cobra meeting of the day, scheduled for early evening.

It was a brutal schedule, but May is known within government for her stamina, despite turning 60 last year and suffering from type-one diabetes, which means she has to inject herself with insulin five times a day.

After spending the night in Downing Street, May will begin preparations for a three-day trip to Brussels and Sicily for meetings of NATO and the G7. The prime minister was already due to take a leading role at both — leading discussions on how to counter terrorism at the G7 in Italy — but her role will now take on added importance.

“The G7 and NATO summits continue as planned,” the prime minister’s official spokesman said Tuesday. “You can expect the prime minister to lead in relation to counter terror.”

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron was due to fly to Gibraltar Tuesday as part of the general election campaign but canceled the trip. He said: "The country is united in grief after this devastating terror attack. Just as the country is focusing all its thoughts on the victims and their families, so politicians should come together in solidarity and respect for the innocent people caught up in this vile attack."

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security released a statement professing solidarity with Britain. "We stand ready to assist our friends and allies in the U.K. in all ways necessary as they investigate and recover from this incident," the statement read.

Joseph Carozza, a representative from Grande's U.S. record label, said the singer was okay, according to AP.

Manchester Arena is the largest indoor concert venue in Europe, seating more than 20,000 people.

Latest statement on incident at Manchester Arena @CCIanHopkins pic.twitter.com/LDG1wgX2sT — G M Police (@gmpolice) May 23, 2017