LONDON: An inquiry has heard that the Manchester Arena bomber was reported to venue security in the hours leading up to his attack, and challenged by a man who asked him: “What have you got in your rucksack?”
Salman Abedi detonated a suicide device in his backpack at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester Arena in 2017, killing 23 people, including himself.
An inquiry into the attack opened on Monday, and courts have heard that four witnesses saw Abedi acting suspiciously, including one who challenged him on the contents of his backpack.
“Evidence shows that at least once, and possibly on two occasions, someone drew attention to Salman Abedi acting suspiciously,” Paul Greaney QC, counsel to the inquiry, told the court.
A father of children attending the concert said he noticed Abedi with a large rucksack in the arena’s mezzanine.
He saw him “sitting on the floor” and said he “thought the man looked out of place,” prompting him to approach Abedi.
“Witness A said, ‘It doesn't look very good, you know, what you see with bombs and such, and you with a rucksack like this in a place like this, what are you doing?’” Greaney told the court.
The attacker told him he was waiting for a friend, and when the witness reported him to venue security, he said he felt “fobbed off” by the disinterested guard.
A former member of the Armed Forces also raised concern about Abedi’s presence in the arena, telling security staff: “I’m ex-military and he shouldn’t be here.”
CCTV images show Abedi struggling with the weight of his bag, which contained roughly 6,000 metal screws and steel nuts, designed to cause maximum damage to people around him on detonation.
While security did monitor Abedi following the reports of his suspicious behavior, one of them told the police that he “froze” as he saw the man walking toward a group of young children and families leaving the concert, and that he “knew at that point it was too late.” Abedi detonated his bomb moments later.
Another witness told the courts that she had reported Abedi to British Transport Police half an hour before the explosion after her colleagues saw him praying with a large backpack.
Security experts have told the courts that they believe “there was enough time” to acknowledge and respond to Abedi’s threat on the day of the attack.
CCTV footage shows Abedi had visited the venue multiple times ahead of the attack.
The inquiry is expected to continue into spring 2021, and will examine whether there was any failings by security services, the police or arena staff, and whether Abedi’s family radicalized him and his brother, who is also implicated in the attack.
The head of the inquiry told the court on Monday: “We’re not looking for scapegoats. We’re searching for the truth.”
