Only at the deepest end of callousness could a homemade bomb find purpose in a sea of pink balloons.

It is the same kind of cruelty that once brought death to a lively concert hall in Paris, a teenage island retreat in Norway and an ice cream parlour in Baghdad buzzing with little children.

‘If that was your sister or your mom … you’d want somebody to take them home or to emergency services.’
– A.J. Singh, taxi driver

On Monday night, though, it incongruously and deliberately crashed into the unsuspecting, gleeful world of young girls.

And so it meant the first victim to be identified was an 18-year-old college student named Georgina Callander. A dedicated fan of Ariana Grande. The two were once photographed together.

Inconceivably, it also meant Saffie Rose Rousso, an eight-year-old attending her first concert has now seen her last.

‘A tremendous shock’

Manchester — the gritty home of music legends — is beside itself with grief.

“The thought that anyone could go out to a concert and not come home is heartbreaking,” said Chris Upton, the principal at her primary school.

Georgina Callander, left, and Saffie Rose Rousso, victims of the bombing at singer Ariana Grande’s concert in Manchester, England, on Monday, May 22, 2017. (Instagram; PA/Associated Press)

The news, he said, “has come as a tremendous shock.”

That the attacker hurt anyone was upsetting enough. That it happened in their city, at a concert where young people were supposed to have fun, was enraging.

That the attacker targeted a venue full of girls has hit a nerve in Manchester, as it has well beyond.

Residents bewildered at what’s happened in their midst have thrown themselves into helping — sheltering survivors, bringing gifts and supplies for the injured in hospitals and giving people free rides.

Ask a question or two, though, and the tears come swiftly.

“They were hurt, they had no way home,” said A.J. Singh, a taxi driver who spent the night ferrying concertgoers to safety.

“What would you do?” he asked tearfully. “If that was your sister or your mom … you’d want somebody to take them home or to emergency services…. They’ve been through hell.”

Manchester taxi driver A.J. Singh was among the city’s many citizens who sprung into action after the arena explosion, ferrying the injured to local hospitals. He told CBC News he lost track of the number of people after 15. (Stephanie Jenzer/CBC News)

And so, what is there left to do or say when children — girls and boys — are fair game, increasingly drawn into such horror. When a concert hall becomes a battleground, and a long anticipated event turns into a long memory of tragedy.

And how exactly to react when young kids are exchanging condolences instead of stories.

Sadly, there is a long list of cities that can offer advice from experience: from Istanbul to Paris, Berlin and Asriya in Iraq, where last year, more than 40 boys, most under 17, were killed in a soccer stadium by a suicide bomber also in his teens.

It isn’t just an attack on innocence. It is the killing of the future of itself.

Manchester now joins the list.

‘I’m going through hell’

In another part of the city, at a whole other arena, parents and loved ones are still going through their own version of hell.

Their continuing vigil for the missing, supported by counsellors, speaks of some hope that the children they wait for are themselves out there somewhere, just waiting to be found.

A girl leaves flowers for the victims a day after the attack on concertgoers at Manchester Arena. (Peter Nicholls/Reuters)

But the fallen, tearful faces speak of the brewing heartbreak. Nothing could ease even the thought of a child slipping through a mother’s fingers.

“I’m going through hell. I can’t even explain what I’m going through,” said Charlotte Campbell, mother 15-year old Olivia Campbell who didn’t make it home Monday night.

​She pleaded for any information about her daughter. “Even if you think it’s her, just let someone know it might be her, please,” she said. “I just want her home — I want her back in my arms.”

Many here could easily imagine being in her shoes.

“It hits a nerve for us all,” said John Morris of the British Red Cross. “I have five grandchildren, and you’re aware of friends and family who were there. Yeah, it’s a difficult time.”

Ariana Grande tweeted yesterday that she was “broken.” She’s not the only one.

We know at least 22 people died. In the coming days, they too will be given names. And many will be the names of young girls.