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A woman looks at flowers in Albert Square in Manchester, northwest England on May 24, 2017, placed in tribute to the victims of the May 22 terror attack at the Manchester Arena.
BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty ImagesLONDON — Security teams missed multiple chances to prevent a suicide bomb attack outside an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena in 2017, a public inquiry has found.
The terror attack on May 22, 2017, caused 22 people to die and more than 800 to be injured, many of them children. It happened at the end of a sold-out Ariana Grande show at Manchester Arena (also now known as AO Arena) when bomber Salman Abedi detonated a home-made explosive device in the venue foyer as fans were exiting the building.
A 200-page report into the attack, published on Thursday (June 17), found that “there were a number of missed opportunities to alter the course of what happened that night” and "more should have been done" by police and security to prevent the bombing.
In particular, the report notes that police should have identified Manchester-born Abedi, who was of Libyan descent, as a potential threat on the night of the attack. Had that occurred, it is likely that Abdedi would still have detonated his device, “but the loss of life and injury is highly likely to have been less,” says John Saunders, who chaired the inquiry.
The report is the first of three that will be produced by the public inquiry, which began last September. It found that arena operators SMG, security company Showsec and the British Transport Police, who were responsible for policing the area where the bomb went off, were "principally responsible” for missed opportunities to prevent or minimize the “devastating impact of the attack.”
They included failing to detect “hostile reconnaissance” carried out by Abdedi on at least three separate occasions prior to May 22, as well as being more alert to the risk of a terrorist attack on the night of the concert.
Saunders says the most striking missed opportunity was the failure of a teenage security guard to take effective steps after a member of the public raised concerns to him about Abedi.
The inquiry found that another security guard, also a teenager, tried to use his radio to alert the security control room after concerns were raised about Abedi, but could not get through.
The report criticizes SMG’s “inadequate” CCTV system, which enabled to Abedi to hide for an hour in a blind spot, and the failure of Showsec staff to conduct an “adequate security patrol” in the 30 minutes leading to the attack.
“It is implicit in the findings that I have made that both SMG and Showsec failed to take steps to improve security at the Arena that they should have taken,” says Saunders.
Of the four British Transport Police officers on duty at the arena on May 22, none were in the foyer at the time of the attack. Two took a two-hour meal break, driving five miles away from the arena to pick up a kebab.
On the night of the bombing, the national terror threat level in the U.K. was severe, meaning an attack was highly likely.
The report makes a number of recommendations to improve security at concert venues, including the introduction of new "protect duty" law, which would place a legal obligation on venue operators to make sure they are prepared for the risk of terror attacks. The British government has initiated a consultation on the proposals.
SMG says since the attack it has improved security procedures at the Manchester Arena by extending the security perimeter around the venue and installing walk-through metal detectors and a new CCTV and access control system.
“However, out of respect for those who tragically lost their lives on the 22nd May 2017, and those whose lives changed forever," SMG says in a statement, "we can never be satisfied that we have done enough.”
When Lady Gaga steps onto the stage at The O2, towering above the crowd on the wide skirt of a deep red crinoline dress, it’s immediately obvious that this won’t be an ordinary Tuesday night. Known for never holding anything back, the theatrical pop visionary dives straight into world-building, transforming the arena into a surreal, camp horror setting. She faces off against another version of herself, surrounded at different moments by skeletons, witches and plague doctors.
“I must sing and build the walls to cradle my own space, and my own sound will grow the fortress of a home erased,” the two Gagas declare in unison before the grand entrance. What follows feels like a powerful reflection on the refuge and sense of belonging she has carved out with her music since her breakout moment with ‘Just Dance’ in 2008.
Aside from her newest release ‘Mayhem’, it’s the songs from her early records ‘The Fame’ (and its reissue ‘The Fame Monster’) and ‘Born This Way’ that take center stage. Although Gaga has reinvented herself many times over the years, it was those early projects and eras that built the groundwork for her artistic journey and gave her the freedom to experiment however she wished.
Lady Gaga credit: Samir Hussein/Getty Images for Live Nation
Her imagination and creative drive are fully on display tonight. One moment she’s sinking into the folds of her massive skirt, bursting out from a cage as ‘Abracadabra’ echoes around the venue. The next, she’s locked in a fierce duel with her chessboard “white queen” double during a striking performance of ‘Poker Face’. When she sings ‘Perfect Celebrity’, she moves into a sandpit, using it to show the complicated push and pull between love and resentment, gently holding and then violently gripping the skeleton lying beside her.
A breathtaking rendition of ‘Paparazzi’ keeps that feeling alive, as Gaga stumbles down the runway dressed in a white lace look partially covered with metal plates and crutches, like a knight stripped of its armor. The night is filled with imagery and layers of meaning, but she never loses sight of making it pure entertainment.
She also uses the moment to acknowledge the people who have supported her along the way. A triumphant ‘Born This Way’ becomes a tribute to the queer community. Gaga speaks from the heart, saying they have “inspired me for my whole career” and tells them, “You are so precious to me and to the world.” Sitting at the piano during the acoustic segment, she is clearly touched by the audience’s overwhelming love and takes a quiet moment to express her emotions.
Lady Gaga credit: Samir Hussein/Getty Images for Live Nation
“I feel very, very lucky to be here tonight,” she says, looking back at the first time she performed in the UK twenty years earlier. “I feel so humbled that, almost 20 years later, I’m still here.” After emotional versions of ‘Dance In The Dark’ and ‘The Edge Of Glory’, she asks the crowd, “If I come back 20 years from now – I’ll come back sooner – but will you come and see the show?”
There’s hardly a soul in the room who wouldn’t say yes, especially after a night this imaginative and flawlessly executed. Returning to full theatrical energy, Gaga leans into the absurd for ‘Bad Romance’, telling the crowd to “put your paws up” and showing off her hands with ridiculously long, sausage-like fingers, as if she’s stepped into a gothic version of a scene from Everything Everywhere All At Once.
As flames appear on top of the opera house behind her, she walks offstage and reemerges for the encore without makeup, wearing a plain black outfit and a beanie over the hair hidden beneath countless wigs throughout the show. It’s a quiet nod to the person behind all the spectacle, but still part of the performance. Like everything she’s done tonight, it’s executed with complete precision and heart.
