Chloe Rutherford

Chloe Rutherford, aged 17, from South Shields, Tyne and Wear was killed in the Manchester Arena bombing.

On 22 May 2017, at approximately 10:31 p.m., Salman Abedi, a 22-year-old British-Libyan man born in Manchester to Libyan parents, carried out a suicide bombing at the Manchester Arena in England at the end of an Ariana Grande concert. 

Abedi, a UK citizen who had recently returned from Libya, detonated a TATP-based nail bomb packed with shrapnel in the City Room foyer, killing 22 people (including children) and injuring 1,017 others (239 with physical injuries). 

His younger brother, Hashem Abedi (also British-Libyan), helped source materials and coordinate the attack from Libya; he was later convicted in the UK of 22 counts of murder, attempted murder, and conspiracy to cause an explosion, receiving a life sentence with a minimum term of 55 years. 

Chloe Rutherford had been at the concert with her boyfriend Liam Curry, who was also killed.

Her father Mark said Liam had “looked after her with such care and love, always putting her first in all they did together”.

He said “Flossy”, a nickname she had earned because of her long hair being “like candyfloss”, had been a “gorgeous young lady” with a “secret passion” for writing music, who had had “her life ahead of her”. 

She was “a real English rose, with blonde hair and the most amazing blue eyes and a smile that could light up a room and bring the sunshine out,” he added.

Rest in peace Chloe. You will not be forgotten.