Manchester Arena bomber should have been identified as threat, investigation finds

Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi should have been identified as a threat on the night of the attack by security officials, according to a public inquiry into the May 2017 attack.

In his report examining security arrangements at the venue where 22 people were murdered and hundreds more injured at the end of an Ariana Grande concert, inquiry chairman Sir John Saunders , found there had been a number of missed opportunities to prevent or minimize the “devastating impact”.

Sir John said he considered it likely that Salman Abedi would still have detonated his device if confronted, “but the loss of life and injury would most likely have been less”.

Abedi, born in Manchester and of Libyan origin, walked through the lobby of the City Room towards the main doors and detonated his shell-laden device, stored in his bulging rucksack, at 10:31 p.m. on May 22, while thousands of people, including many children, left the concert.

Hearings of the public inquiry into the circumstances leading up to and surrounding the attack have continued in the city since September last year.