Manchester Arena bombing

The Manchester Arena bombing, or Manchester Arena attack, was an Islamic terrorist suicide bombing of Manchester Arena in Manchester, England, on 22 May 2017, following a concert by the American pop singer Ariana Grande. Perpetrated by Islamic extremist Salman Abedi and aided by his brother, Hashem Abedi, the bombing occurred at 22:31 and killed 22 people, injured 1,017, and destroyed the arena's foyer. It was the deadliest act of terrorism and the first suicide bombing in the United Kingdom since the 7 July 2005 London bombings.

The perpetrator was motivated by the deaths of Muslim children resulting from US intervention in the Syrian civil war. Carrying a large backpack, he detonated an improvised explosive device containing triacetone triperoxide (TATP) and nuts and bolts serving as shrapnel. After initial suspicions of a terrorist network, police later said they believed Abedi had largely acted alone, but that others had been aware of his plans. In 2020, Hashem Abedi was tried and convicted for murder, attempted murder and conspiracy, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment in August 2020 with a minimum term of 55 years, the longest ever imposed by a British court. A public inquiry released in 2021 found that 'more should have been done' by British police to stop the attack, while MI5 admitted it acted 'too slowly' in dealing with Abedi.

Grande briefly suspended her tour and hosted a benefit concert on 4 June entitled One Love Manchester, raising a total of million towards victims of the bombing. Anti-Muslim hate crimes increased in the Greater Manchester area following the attack, according to police. Prime Minister Theresa May formed the Commission for Countering Extremism in response to the bombing.

Planning

Motive

Abedi's sister said her brother was motivated by the injustice of Muslim children dying in bombings stemming from the United States-led intervention in the Syrian civil war. A family friend of the Abedi's also remarked that Salman had vowed revenge at the funeral of Abdul Wahab Hafidah, who was run over and stabbed to death by a Manchester gang on 12 May 2016 and was a friend of Salman and his younger brother Hashem. Hashem later co-ordinated the Manchester bombing with his brother. During the police investigation, they uncovered evidence that the two had participated in the Libyan Civil war and had met with members of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. Police uncovered photographs with the brothers alongside the sons of Abu Anas al-Libi, a high ranking Al-Qaeda fighter in Libya.

The Islamic State (ISIS) released a statement on the messaging app Telegram on 23 May claiming responsibility. In the statement, ISIS said that a ‘soldier of the Khilafah’ detonated an explosive amidst a crowd of ‘the crusaders in the British city of Manchester’. United States director of national intelligence Dan Coats said—before the Senate Armed Services Committee—that ISIS frequently claims responsibility and the United States could not confirm their claims. Former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent Ali Soufan noted the inaccuracy in their statement and suggested their media apparatus was weaker than usual; the statement claims that the bomb exploded in the middle of the arena, not its foyer. Then French interior minister Gérard Collomb said in an interview with BFM TV that Abedi may have been to Syria, and had ‘proven’ links with ISIS.

An investigation by Greater Manchester Police into a report by the BBC that an imam of the Didsbury Mosque, where Abedi and his family were regulars, had made a call for armed jihad 10 days before Abedi bought his concert ticket, found that no offences had been committed.

Reconnaissance

According to German police sources, Abedi transited through Düsseldorf Airport on his way home to Manchester from Istanbul four days before the bombing. Abedi returned to Manchester on 18 May after a trip to Libya. Closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage identified Abedi multiple times prior to the bombing. On 18 May, at 18:14, CCTV footage first identified him leaving the Shudehill Interchange, briefly talking to a Manchester Arena worker before observing the queues and entrances within the City Room. Abedi was spotted in the City Room on 21 May at 18:53 and on 22 May at 18:34, approximately 30 minutes after Grande's performance began. In all three visits, Abedi was noted using his mobile phone and did not appear to carry an explosive.

Building the bomb

After returning to Manchester, Abedi bought bomb-making material, apparently constructing the acetone peroxide-based bomb by himself. It is known that many members of the ISIS Battar brigade trained people in bomb-making in Libya. According to ''The New York Times'', the bomb was ‘an improvised device made with forethought and care’. Metal nuts and screws were found, suggesting that it was intended to be a nail bomb. Images released by ''The New York Times'' show an explosive charge inside a lightweight metal container which was carried within a black vest or a blue Karrimor backpack. His torso was propelled by the blast through the doors to the arena, possibly indicating that the explosive charge was held in the backpack and blew him forward on detonation. A corroded 12-volt, 2.1 amp-hour lead acid battery manufactured by GS Yuasa was found at the scene. A coroner's inquest suggested that the bomb was strong enough to kill people up to away. Michael McCaul, a US representative and then chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee claimed that the bomb contained triacetone triperoxide (TATP), described by McCaul as ‘a classic explosive device used by terrorists’.

Bombing

The concert began at around 19:35. From approximately 20:30 to 20:51, Abedi moved from the Shudehill Interchange to the City Room, moving towards the men's toilet on the Victoria station concourse at 20:36 and departing at 20:48. During his visit to the toilet, he was seen by two British Transport Police (BTP) community support officers and two Showsec security guards. Using the station concourse lift, he made his way towards the City Room. From 20:51 to 21:10, he was spotted by a Showsec employee for less than ten seconds on the mezzanine of the City Room before moving back towards the tram platform at 21:13. While in the City Room, Abedi hid in a spot that was not covered by the arena's CCTV system. Abedi made his final journey towards the City Room at 21:29, arriving at 21:33. Abedi was spotted by a person who was hired to prevent illegal screen recordings of the concert—by 22:00. She said that she had informed a BTP constable of Abedi's presence, who stated that she had no recollection of such a conversation.

Grande began performing at 21:00 and the concert drew to a close shortly before 22:30. According to a Libyan official, Abedi spoke with his younger brother, Hashem, on the phone about 15 minutes before the attack was carried out. Five BTP constables were scheduled to patrol the Victoria Exchange Complex, although only four were in attendance by the time of the bombing. None of the four constables were present in the City Room between 22:00 and 22:31; two constables had left on their dinner break. Although Showsec expected an egress and a supervisor was present in the City Room between 22:08 and 22:17, the supervisor did not go up to the mezzanine and did not spot Abedi. Abedi was spotted again at 22:12 by another member of the public, who asked what he had in his bag. He was concerned that the bag may have contained a bomb after he did not answer and reported him, to which he was told that the BTP were already aware of Abedi. After being told of the concerns, a Showsec employee was afraid that he would be considered a racist and did not approach Abedi. While he attempted to get through on the radio, heavy radio traffic prevented him from reaching any other people. As the concert ended, concert-goers left through the City Room, one of four entrances into the arena. At 22:30, Abedi descended from the mezzanine.

At exactly 22:31 (21:31 UTC), the nail bomb, weighing in excess of , detonated in the City Room. 23 people, including Abedi, were killed and hundreds more were injured.

Casualties

An estimated 14,200 people were at the concert when the bomb exploded. The explosion killed the attacker and 22 concert-goers and parents who were in the entrance waiting to pick up their children following the show; 119 people were initially reported as injured. This number was revised by police to 250 on 22 June, with the addition of severe psychological trauma and minor injuries. In May 2018, the number of injured was revised to 800. During the public inquiry into the bombing, it was updated in December 2020 to 1,017 people sustaining injuries. A study published in September 2019 said that 239 of the injuries were physical. The dead included ten people aged under 20; the youngest victim was an eight-year-old girl and the oldest was a 51-year-old woman. Of the 22 victims, twenty were from Britain and two were UK-based Polish nationals. Police and family of 29-year-old victim Martyn Hett, who was away from the blast and after whom Martyn's Law was named, stated that due to the severity of the explosion, he could only be identified by a tattoo of Deirdre Barlow on his leg.

Response and relief

Police response

British Transport Police

Within a minute of the bombing, a police constable sent a radio message saying ‘We need more people at Victoria, we just had a loud bang’, through the BTP channel. Two sergeants were in the Peninsula Building and ran towards the arena when they heard the explosion. One of them called for a sitrep at 22:33. At 22:34, the BTP command centre was told that there were ‘at least twenty casualties’ and the explosion was ‘definitely aused bya bomb’. BTP's command centre called for the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) and the Greater Manchester Police (GMP). The first vehicle arrived at 22:34. A BTP constable confirmed the location at 22:39 as the ‘ticket office in the arena’ and said there were 60 casualties.

Greater Manchester Police

At 22:31:52, the first 999 call reporting a bombing at the arena was made by an injured bystander. The second call, placed at 22:32:40, incorrectly stated that there were gunshots alongside the explosion. The force duty officer on the night of the attack became aware of the bombing at 22:34 and immediately deployed firearms officers. He arrived on the adjacent Trinity Way by 22:39 and communicated that the attack may have been a fireworks display at 22:39:30. A separate firearms officer said that there were ‘major casualties’ at 22:41 and mentioned Operation Plato, the response to a marauding terrorist attack (MTA). At 22:42:44, the first two GMP officers were spotted on CCTV through the lower doors on Trinity Way, while three arrived through the Victoria station. Operation Plato was declared at 22:47, and a ‘major incident’ was declared at 23:04. At 01:32, a precautionary controlled explosion was carried out on a suspicious item in Cathedral Gardens.

Ambulance service response

At 22:32, a member of the public made a 999 call about the explosion and identified where he was, the foyer, and the location of the detonation. The North West Ambulance Service reported that 60 of its ambulances attended the scene, carried 59 people to local hospitals and treated walking wounded on site. Michael Daley, an off-duty consultant anaesthetist was entered into the British Medical Journal's book of valour for his bravery in June 2017. Of those hospitalised, 12 were children under the age of 16. In total, 112 people were hospitalised for their injuries and 27 were treated for injuries that did not require hospitalisation. Out of this total of 139, 79 were children.

Government aid and response

Prime Minister Theresa May spoke in front of 10 Downing Street to condemn the ‘sickening cowardice’ of the attack. She then travelled to Manchester with Home Secretary Amber Rudd. That morning, May led an emergency Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms (COBR) meeting. The meeting raised the United Kingdom's threat level to ‘critical’, its highest level. On 27 May, the threat level was reduced to ‘severe’, its previous status.

The bombing set into motion Operation Temperer for the first time since it was put into place following the ''Charlie Hebdo'' shooting in January 2015. Two days after the attack, a total of 984 military personnel were deployed across London, including at high-profile locations, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, Ministry of Defence Main Building, and some nuclear sites. Tours of the Palace of Westminster and the guard-changing ceremony at Buckingham Palace were cancelled. A total of 1,400 personnel were deployed by 30 May, when the operation was deactivated. The Commission for Countering Extremism was created in the aftermath of the bombing.

In November 2017, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham said that Theresa May had intended to only pay million of the million estimated to help the city rebuild, leading to criticism. May later fully reimbursed the city of Manchester in January 2018. A study published in the ''American Political Science Review'' in 2021 observed May's approval ratings following the bombing. Although the researchers expected a result indicative of the rally 'round the flag effect—in which the approval ratings of a political leader increases in the wake of a crisis or war—May's approval ratings decreased. The researchers suggested that May's gender played a role in the public's response, writing that female leaders ‘cannot count on rallies following major terrorist attacks’. The GMP reported a surge in anti-Muslim hate crimes in the wake of the bombing.

Various British figures and politicians expressed condolences following the bombing. Queen Elizabeth II visited Royal Manchester Children's Hospital to meet with victims on 25 May, calling it ‘very wicked’ to attack children. Burnham said the attack was ‘evil’. Thousands, joined by Rudd, Burnham and then Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, gathered in Albert Square to remember the victims. Bishop of Manchester David Walker lit a candle at the vigil. The Muslim Council of Britain condemned the attack and called it ‘horrific’. A national minute's silence was observed on 25 May; in St Ann's Square, the silence ended with a round of applause followed by Oasis

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