Early reports claimed that as many as 60 children were taken to the Holiday Inn in Goadsby Street after they were separated from their parents or guardians after the explosion at the end of an Ariana Grande concert this week. The incident killed 22 people and injured a further 59 individuals. Now two hotels in Manchester nearby the arena have denied the reports that they took in dozens of unaccompanied children. When the news broke that the hotels were hosting the victims, both hotels received thousands of people sending tweets and Facebook messages urging family members to contact the hotels if they had not heard from their loved ones. However, the hotel insist they do not have any missing children at the Premier Inn branch by Victoria Bridge Street which is close to the arena where the blast occurred.
"Our thoughts are with all the victims of this horrendous tragedy as well as their friends and family and the people of Manchester. The hotel teams at Crowne Plaza Manchester City Centre and Holiday Inn Express Manchester City Centre - Arena have both been working closely with the emergency services throughout the night, supporting members of the public who needed immediate refuge," explained Karan Khanna, vice president operations of the International Hotel Group.
"The hotels are fully operational and continue to offer support. A number of other Holiday Inn hotels in the wider area also offered those impacted a place to stay – as the wider Manchester community did – through social channels. There has been reports of a number of unaccompanied children being bought to a Holiday Inn or Holiday Inn Express in the area, however these are incorrect. Our hotels were working with police throughout the night, but we did not have a group of unaccompanied children at our hotel."
The statement from the hotel added: "There is an emergency line available for those concerned about loved ones or anyone who may have been in the area last night - 0161 856 9400."
Despite this, following the blast, local residents offered places to stay as well as free rides in a public hashtag #roomformanchester on Twitter. Local restaurants and bars also offered free food and services including hot drinks and water.
