Sikhs rally round to help those stranded by Manchester attack

MANCHESTER: A British Indian taxi driver who drove scores of injured to the hospital on the night of the Manchester terror attack says, "I am no hero. This is what anyone would do."
24-year-old AJ Singh, who was born in Manchester and whose family comes from Punjab, drove more than 15 wounded to the Manchester Royal Infirmary and Salford Royal Foundation Trust free of charge on Monday night following the suicide bombing at Manchester Arena which left 22 dead and 59 injured.
Singh drove straight into the city centre on the night of the attacks at 11pm to see how he could help. "It was devastation. People were running scared, there was blood and nails stuck into people," he recalls.
"There were not enough ambulances. Guru Nanak said we have to help people when in need and that is what we are doing," said Singh, who has been delivering food and water to family and friends of the victims in hospital ever since.
"I did not charge people on Monday night. After the second journey I put up a sign on my car saying 'Free Taxis'. People did not have money or a phone. I am a Sikh. This is my duty," he says.
One of the most harrowing experiences he had was driving a man whose girlfriend passed away.
"The paramedics told him she was unlikely to make it. She went in an ambulance and he came with me. I could see his whole life had gone before him. He did not want to talk about it. We just sat there crying and hugging each other," he said.
Members of the Sikh community opened up the city’s five gurdwaras to offer food, shelter and water to those caught in the attacks.
80 to 90 people took refuge in the Gurdwara Sri Guru Harkrishan Sahib which is very close to the Arena, the site of the attack.
"The priest came out and saw people running frantically in distress so he quickly rang up community members telling them to come to the gurdwara and help," says Prakash Singh, President of the Sri Guru Gobind Singh Gurdwara Educational & Cultural Centre.
Some just wanted water or a cup of tea, others had langar of rice, dal and chapati.
"We lent them phones and we rang up Sikh taxi drivers in the city who came and took them to their homes or hotels free of charge. The temples are all still open now for anyone that needs help," adds Singh, who was born in Manchester and whose father moved to the UK from Lahore before Partition.
Third generation British Pakistani Rizwana Arshad, 35, accounts manager at Street Cars Manchester, says all the taxis in her firm offered free lifts all night too.
The firm employs 600 drivers of a diverse range of ethnic backgrounds including Pakistani, Indian, Somalian, African, Polish, English and Arabic, and of all faiths, the majority of whom are Muslim.
"Mancunians are all welcoming individuals, whatever ethnic group they are from. It was a horrific terrorist attack and this was people coming together as a community," she said.