Manchester bombing: Missing teenage girl found alive but search continues for her friend

Teenager Laura MacIntyre, who was reported missing after the Manchester bomb attack, has been been found in hospital suffering from serious burns.

Laura, 15, and her friend Eilidh MacLeod, 14, had been missing since the deadly attack at the Ariana Grande concert at Manchester arena on Monday night which left 22 people dead and around 59 injured. Eilidh is still unaccounted for, along with 13 others.

Family friend and SNP MP Angus MacNeil confirmed the 15-year-old from the Isle of Barra in Scotland, was located following desperate appeals on social media from her family and friends.

"Laura is alive and in hospital in a serious condition," he said.

"We are obviously still extremely worried about Eilidh. We have no news at the moment."

Speaking before she was found, Laura's father revealed it was the teenager’s first concert and the two friends had travelled with Eilidh’s mother from the remote Hebridean island to Manchester.

Michael MacIntyre said earlier today: “I was a bit hesitant about her going to a concert so far away but she seemed so happy. I’m waiting by the phone all day in case I hear any news.”

The friends are in year nine at Barra Community School and the tickets were a birthday present for Eilidh, whose mother Nan was waiting in her hotel room when the concert ended.

The last message she received was a text to say the last song had started and the girls would be out soon.

Family and friends from the remote island, which has a population of just 1,100, many of them Gaelic speakers, issued frantic appeals on social media for any information on the whereabouts of the two teens.

Eilidh’s aunt Margaret MacNeil wrote on Facebook: “My niece and her friend were at the Ariana Grande concert tonight and there has been no contact since the explosion. Please let us find the girls safe and well.”

Mr MacNeil, the SNP candidate for the area, who knows both families well, had also taken to social media to appeal for help in finding the girls.

Donald Manford, a local councillor on Barra and the great uncle of Eilidh MacLeod, said she was a bright and “highly motivated” girl who was looking forward to a special treat with her friend.

He drove Eilidh’s father Roddy to the airport so he could fly to Glasgow and then on to Manchester in the early hours of the morning.

Mr Manford said of Mr MacLeod: “He is distressed but he is a very strong individual and they are a very strong family. We are extremely grateful for the understanding and help the family has received from all quarters although I wish we could have some good news.