MI5 ‘missed opportunity’ to prevent suicide bombing at Ariana Grande concert, inquiry finds

The deadly bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in 2017 might have been thwarted had British agents acted more quickly on covert intelligence, a public inquiry determined Thursday.

MI5 officers could have had the chance to stop suicide bomber Salman Abedi at the Manchester Airport days before the massacre if they had discussed the information earlier, said John Saunders, a former judge who headed the investigation.

The bombing in the foyer of Manchester Arena killed 22 people and injured more than 100 others.

“I have found a significant missed opportunity to take action that might have prevented the attack,” Saunders said.

An MI5 officer acknowledged failing to speak with other agents early enough after identifying Abedi as a potential threat, Saunders said.

MI5 apologized Thursday for its failure to “prevent the attack.”

“Gathering covert intelligence is difficult, but had we managed to seize the slim chance we had, those impacted might not have experienced such appalling loss and trauma,” MI5 Director General Ken McCallum said.

Crowds of people were leaving Grande’s concert on May 22, 2017, when Abedi, 22, detonated the explosive, killing himself as well. Three years earlier, MI5 had determined Abedi to be low-risk after identifying him as a “subject of interest.”

“I have concluded that there was at least a period during Salman Abedi’s journey to violent extremism when he should have been referred” to the United Kingdom’s counter-terrorism program, said Saunders, who has also been critical of local authorities and of the emergency response after the attack.

Abedi’s brother, Hashem Abedi, was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of helping to plan and execute the massacre.

“From top to bottom, MI5 to the associates of the attacker, we will always believe you all played a part in the murder of our children,” Caroline Curry, the mother of a 19-year-old killed in the bombing, said Thursday.

Less than a month after the attack, Grande performed at “One Love Manchester,” a benefit concert she helped organize to raise millions of dollars to support victims and their families.

In 2018, Grande penned an emotional essay in which she said she thinks of Manchester “constantly.”

“The spirit of the people of Manchester, the families affected by this horrendous tragedy and my fans around the world have permanently impacted all of us for the rest of our lives,” the pop star wrote. “Their love, strength and unity showed me, my team, my dancers, band and entire crew not to be defeated.”

With News Wire Services