'Stroke of luck' led Montrealers to leave Manchester concert just before bombing
Montrealers Daphnée Laurendeau and Mickaël Spinnhirny decided to leave Ariana Grande's concert at Manchester Arena just before the end.
That decision might have saved their lives.
"We looked at each other and hesitated, asking if we should stay, then 'Oh, we should go, taking public transport will be tough after.' That decision changed the course of our lives," Laurendeau told Radio-Canada.
"It was a stroke of luck that we left at that moment."
They were about 20 metres from the entrance when they heard the deadly bomb go off that killed 22 people and wounded more than 50 others.
"We heard a big explosion and within seconds, things got chaotic," Spinnhirny said.
"Sirens wailing, people yelling and us running away without really knowing where to go. It really got chaotic in such a short time."
The pair followed people into the street, away from the arena.
Parents, grandparents waiting for their kids outside
The pair say it was particularly hard to find out what happened, knowing how many young people attended the concert.
"In front of the arena, it was parents and grandparents who were waiting for their kids who went to the show. It was really touching to see as we were leaving," Spinnhirny said.
"We even remarked that it was cute, to see the grandparents waiting for the teenagers."
The two are dancers on tour with the Montreal dance company Cas Public. They were scheduled to perform Tuesday night in Manchester.
"We received a call from the theatre asking if we felt up to dancing [at Tuesday's show]. I think the response from the team was automatic and unanimous: We wanted to dance," Spinnhirny said.
The team went on to perform, despite many of them not having much sleep the night before.
"We wanted to do it for the young people who can no longer dance."
