Within hours of the terrorist attacks, the images of the dead and missing started appearing on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook (right). All that relatives and those who loved them wanted to know was… were they alive?
One victim was Nick Alexander (inset bottom left) from Colchester in Essex, who had been selling merchandise at the concert when he was killed by gunmen. But by mid-afternoon his girlfriend Polina Buckley knew he was dead, uploading a picture of her and Nick sharing a kiss (left) with the message: ‘You are and always will be the love of my life, Nick Alexander.’ She posted the heartbreaking message as fresh details emerged of the chaos and confusion inside the concert hall. Devastated survivors described how people scrambled for the exit while gunmen calmly shot at those trying to escape.
A friend of Mr Alexander, 36, who was at the concert with him, revealed that he had died in her arms after being shot. Helen Wilson, an American who survived after being wounded in both legs, said she had desperately tried to keep him breathing as they lay on the floor of the concert hall.