Adele cries as she pays tribute to victims of Orlando nightclub shooting and LGBTQ community

The singer said the LGBTQ community are like her 'soulmates' in a tearful address

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Adele burst into tears mid-concert on Sunday as she paid tribute to the 49 people killed and 53 injured in a mass shooting committed by a lone gunman at an LGBT nightclub in Florida.

The "Hello" singer took a moment at the beginning of her concert in Antwerp, Belgium, to address the deadliest shooting in modern US history.

“I would like to start tonight by dedicating this song to this entire show to everybody in Orlando and Pulse nightclub,” she said. “The LGBTQ community, they’re like my soulmates since I was really young,” she went on, before starting to cry. “I’m really moved.”

Adele joins the hundreds of thousands across the world who have reacted with shock, grief and anger at the senseless bloodshed at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, which had up to 350 people inside when it was attacked by Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old American citizen who lived in Fort Pierce, Florida.

JK Rowling told her seven million Twitter followers how she was unable to stop crying after learning one of the victims, Luis Vielma, was an operator on a Harry Potter-themed ride at the Universal Orlando Resort theme park. Vielma was 22-years-old.

Mateen exchanged fire with police at about 2am before taking those inside the club hostage. He was killed three hours later when officers stormed the building and shot him dead.

His father Seddique Mateen said his son had a “grudge in his heart” in a video uploaded on Monday morning. “What he has done has affected me deeply,” he added. In an earlier interview, Mr Mateen said his son had been angered a few months before the attack after seeing two men kiss in Miami.