Meet one of the Manchester cabbies who offered free rides all night after deadly blast

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Taxi company owner Sam Arshad was on his way home Monday night when he came across a huge crowd of people gathered outside the Manchester Arena reeling in the aftermath of the explosion at an Ariana Grande concert.

"I seen a lot of panicked people, people in distress, people with fear on them, and a lot of distressed children," the co-owner of StreetCars Manchester told As It Happens host Carol Off.

After learning what had happened, he immediately spun his car around, drove back to the office, and rounded up his fleet of drivers. 

There were a lot of scared children there and they had no way of getting to their loved ones.- Sam Arshad, StreetCars Manchester

"I said, 'Would you guys be up for helping the people of Manchester? If yes, then would you give free journeys to the genuine people who are struggling in Manchester and they have no way to get home?'" he said. "And I got a great response from the StreetCars drivers and they fully backed me."

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His company wasn't alone. With public transport shut down citywide, cabbies all over the city offered free rides to stranded concertgoers — many of them minors.

"There were a lot of scared children there and they had no way of getting to their loved ones. And you had the parents who are home, worried sick of how they could get their children back home and back safe," Arshad said.

"There were stories of kids as young as nine and 10 years old ... trying to get a taxi home, but obviously they were worried, they had no money. The parents were trying to reassure us as a company that the drivers would get paid once they got to the site, but we fully supported them. We said, 'You have nothing to worry about.' At times like this, money is not of importance. The main thing is that we get your children home safe.'"

Manchester city councillor Sue Murphy told As It Happens that people all over the city stepped up to help in the aftermath of the suicide blast killed 22 people, many of them children and teenagers, and left another 59 wounded. 

While taxi drivers delivered stranded people to safety, cafes stayed open overnight so people could have a place to gather their thoughts, and people opened their homes to anyone needing a place to stay. 

"It was a real outpouring of support," she said. "And that, I think, is the overwhelming thing, not the actions of one individual."

Manchester police identified the bomber as 22-year-old Salman Abedi. Police did not provide further details, but the militant group ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack.

"The attack last night was just beyond description. It's horrific that anybody can actually think this is acceptable to target a concert, particularly one with a number of young children at it," Murphy said. 

"But Manchester has a proud history of solidarity, so I think today there's a determination to demonstrate to people that that the act of one person will not divide us as a city and we are strong together."

Murphy said she is working full time to keep spreading that message of solidarity, planning a community vigil and conducting joint interviews with Muslim leaders. 

"We are a very diverse city but we have a history of welcoming people and learning to live alongside one another and that's the place I think most people are at the moment."

Arshad echoed that sentiment.

"Last night proved to us that at such a horrific time, how we all came together as human beings, as Mancunians, and we all came out of our houses to support the people who were affected by this tragic incident," he said. 

As for the attacker, Arshad, who is Muslim, said: "It is absolutely disgraceful. He has not done it in the name of my relgion."

"There is a big difference between people like them and people like me and the people of Manchester that came together," he said.