Manchester Arena Bombing Inquiry: “Emergency services let down victims”

The Manchester Arena Bombing Inquiry has continued over the summer, with a number of developments looking at how emergency services responded on the night.

The inquiry has sought to find answers to questions surrounding the events of the Manchester arena bombing, with revelations on emergency services actions on the night.

Since starting over a year ago, the Manchester Arena Bombing Inquiry has attempted to investigate how the events took place on the night and if it could have been prevented, looking at the response of the emergency services most recently. The Inquiry follows on the Kersalke report, a report looking at the response of the emergency services on the night in question.

Assistant fire county officer David Keelan, apologised to the families of the victims saying they had been “let down” by the response time of emergency services. He later went on to describe the response as woeful and unacceptable.

The Inquiry was set up in order to investigate what could have been done to stop the attack before it happened, the arena security, the emergency response and the radicalisation of Salman Abedi.

In the last weeks, three terrorism experts, Ian Dickinson, Scott Wilson and Iain Sirrell have suggested that the Greater Manchester Police failed to work effectively with the rest of emergency response to produce a coordinated response.

Medical supplies could have been distributed more effectively to aid with the injuries of the wounded, medical expert Christian Cooper has said. Some supplies were even left outside of Manchester Victoria station, failing to make it to those in need.

The inquiry will continue with looking at the radicalisation of Salman Abedi, with MI5 staff to be questioned in a part of the inquiry which will not be made available to the public, in the interest of national security. However, on Monday, representatives of the victims’ families have put forward an appeal to have MI5 questioned by these families.

With no specific date for the enquiry to be finished, there is still much to learn about the events that happened on the night and the extent to which they could have been prevented.

To follow the Inquiry in real-time, follow the Manchester Arena Inquiry YouTube channel showing live coverage of each day or visit the site manchesterarenainquiry.org.uk for details on the Inquiry so far.