A crowdfunding campaign to support the families of Manchester attack victims has raised £200,000 in 4 hours

A crowdfunding campaign to raise money to provide support for the families of those injured and killed in the Manchester terrorist attack has raised close to £200,000 in just four hours.

The campaign, launched by staff at the Manchester Evening News on Tuesday morning, aims to raise £250,000 and was created after readers got in touch with the paper to ask how they could help in the aftermath of the attack.

“Manchester Evening News readers have been asking how they can help, so we have started this fund to help support the families in the aftermath of the attack,” the description of the campaign on fundraising site JustGiving says.

At least 22 people have been killed and more than 50 people injured following what is believed to have been a suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert.

As of just after 1.20 p.m BST, the campaign has attracted donations of £198,273 from 5262 separate backers, reaching 79% of its target.

The official Twitter account of the Manchester Evening News tweeted to say that online fashion retailer Boohoo.com – which has its head office close to the site of the attack – has donated £100,000 to the campaign.

You can donate to the campaign by clicking this link.