Australia makes urgent inquiries after fatal blast at UK Ariana Grande concert.

The federal government is trying to find out if any Australians have been caught up in a blast in the north England city of Manchester.

The High Commission in London is making “urgent inquiries”, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed.

There are reports of a “number of fatalities” but no further details.

The emergency happened at the end of a concert by US performer Ariane Grande at Manchester Arena.

Australia’s counter-terrorism coordinator Terry Sheehan says the high commission in London is seeking to find out if any Australians were injured or killed in the Manchester arena attack.

Mr Sheehan told a Senate committee in Canberra on Tuesday UK police had advised Australian authorities there were 19 people dead and 50 injured in the attack.

“In our high commission, they will be working hard to ascertain whether any Australians are impacted by this tragic event,” Mr Sheehan said.

He said there was no further information about perpetrators or motives, but Australian security agencies were working closely with their UK counterparts.

“The UK agencies will be treating this as a potential terrorism event until shown to be otherwise, but we have no further information at this stage,” he said.

“Obviously it’s a very serious incident and we will be paying very close attention throughout the day to the unfolding events.”