LAST UPDATE | 3 Nov 2022
A REPORT EXAMINING the emergency response to the Manchester Arena bombing published today found that one of the 22 people killed would probably have survived but for inadequacies in the emergency response.
Care worker John Atkinson, 28, was six metres away when the explosion went off in the City Room foyer of the venue at the end of an Ariana Grande concert on the evening of 22 May 2017.
A member of the public used his wife’s belt as a tourniquet on Atkinson’s leg as he lay bleeding in agony on the City Room floor for up to 50 minutes, during which time he told a police officer: “I’m gonna die.”
His family said it “should simply never have been allowed to happen”, adding: “It is crystal clear that due to those failings, John died from injuries that he could and should have survived.”
Only three paramedics entered the City Room on the night and none were seen to attend or assist Atkinson, before he was carried on a makeshift stretcher to a casualty clearing area where he later suffered a cardiac arrest – one hour and 16 minutes after the blast.
Today’s report by Manchester Arena Inquiry chairman John Saunders also focused on the experience on the fateful night of each of those who died.
Evidence into the circumstances leading up to and surrounding the atrocity was heard in the city between 7 September 2020 and 15 February this year.
The hearings began and ended with a minute’s silence to remember those who died – John Atkinson, 28; Courtney Boyle, 19; Kelly Brewster, 32; Georgina Callander, 18; Olivia Campbell-Hardy, 15; Chloe Rutherford, 17; Liam Curry, 19; Wendy Fawell, 50; Martyn Hett, 29; Megan Hurley, 15; Alison Howe, 44; Nell Jones, 14; Michelle Kiss, 45; Angelika Klis, 39; Marcin Klis, 42; Sorrell Leczkowski, 14; Lisa Lees, 43; Eilidh MacLeod, 14; Elaine McIver, 43; Saffie-Rose Roussos, aged eight; Philip Tron, 32; and Jane Tweddle, 51.
Their photographs were displayed in the hearing room at Manchester Magistrates’ Court at the start of the public inquiry as their final movements were outlined – where they were when Salman Abedi, 22, detonated his bomb in the City Room foyer, the extent of the medical treatment given and the details of their injuries.
Bombing survivor Ron Blake, who used his wife’s belt as a tourniquet on Atkinson’s leg, told the BBC “big mistakes were made that night” and those in charge had “got it all wrong”.
“It just seemed to last forever. It seemed to go on and on and on and no-one was coming so I just kept trying to talk to John,” Blake told the broadcaster.
“He kept saying ‘I’m going to die, aren’t I?’ and I said ‘no you are not.’”
Saunders’ report concluded: “Significant aspects of the emergency response on May 22 2017 went wrong. This should not have happened.
“Some of what went wrong had serious and, in the case of John Atkinson, fatal consequences for those directly affected by the explosion.”
Saunders said it was “highly unlikely” that the bombing’s youngest victim, eight-year-old Saffie-Rose Roussos, would have survived her injuries with “only a remote possibility she could have survived with different treatment and care”.
Pete Weatherby KC, for the family of Saffie-Rose, told the inquiry: “We do not doubt that Saffie suffered a high burden of injury and no one suggests she would necessarily have survived whatever interventions were applied.”
But he said none of her injuries were unsurvivable individually and the evidence suggests “she went into cardiac arrest because her blood circulation volume fell below a critical level.”
He argued she may not have gone into cardiac arrest if pre-hospital treatment had allowed her blood volume levels to increase and that timely interventions could have dealt with lung and bleeding injuries.
NWAS also argued there were no inadequacies in the response to Saffie-Rose that contributed to her death and submitted her injuries were also unsurvivable.
Failures highlighted in the report included
– Only three paramedics entered the City Room on the night to treat the dying and injured
– The initial command of the incident was taken by Greater Manchester Police’s (GMP) force duty officer, Inspector Dale Sexton, who quickly became overwhelmed by the number of tasks in hand.
– Insp Sexton failed to tell other emergency services he had declared Operation Plato – a pre-arranged plan for a suspected marauding terrorist
– No common rendezvous point for 999 services was established
– Fire crews took more than two hours to even attend the incident after station manager Andy Berry chose to mobilise resources three miles from the Arena amid fears over safety.
– Evacuation of casualties failed, with 36 people still waiting to be taken from the City Room past midnight.
By 10.50pm, the City Room was a “cold zone” said Saunders, where it was assessed there was no immediate threat to life from an armed terrorist – but neither paramedics nor firefighters were deployed en masse to the City Room amid confusion over whether an armed terrorist was still on the loose.
Instead, ambulances lined up outside the venue and firefighters mustered at a fire station three miles away.
Police, fire and ambulance chiefs offered profuse apologies after the scathing report into the emergency response.
Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police Stephen Watson told a press conference the force’s failings were “significant”, adding: “We failed to plan effectively and the execution of that which was planned was simply not good enough.”
Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service’s Chief Fire Officer, Dave Russel, appeared to become emotional as he said the service’s response to the bombing will “forever be a matter of deep regret for our service”.
Survivors
Law firm Hudgell Solicitors is preparing civil claims for more than 150 survivors from the attack.
They are seeking damages for physical and psychological injuries, to recover loss of earnings and cover the costs of ongoing treatment, rehabilitation and care.
Among its clients are sisters Janet Senior, 64, and Josie Howarth, 66, from West Yorkshire, who were waiting in the City Room foyer waiting for their nieces, Jenny, 19, and Jodie, 13, at the end of the concert.
All survived despite Howarth being left with two nuts lodged in her leg and Senior having a large metal nut embedded in her neck after completely shattering her clavicle, with another burning and branding its shape on her arm.
Senior said: “We were injured in the foyer for about an hour with no help coming at all and that time will forever haunt me.
“Josie was slipping in and out of consciousness and I was worried she was going to die. I felt so alone, so helpless, so afraid. We were left waiting for what seemed an eternity.
“People were dying around us. I can still hear the sounds of all the people around wailing in agony and calling desperately for help. Over time, that calling out faded and people stopped calling out.
“I can remember thinking, as more time passed, ‘Nobody is coming for us. We’re being left to die’.
Ruling
Greater Manchester Police will also fall under the spotlight as chief inspector Dale Sexton, who was in charge of its immediate response, failed to inform his counterparts in the ambulance and fire services he had declared Operation Plato, a pre-arranged plan for a suspected marauding armed terrorist.
The now retired Sexton denied he was “overwhelmed” by the sheer number of tasks he faced and said it was a deliberate decision which he believed would save lives as fire and ambulance crews would be held back in a Plato situation.
Saunders’ first report on security issues at the Arena venue was issued last June and highlighted a string of “missed opportunities” to identify Abedi as a threat before he walked across the City Room foyer and detonated his shrapnel-laden device.
The third and final report will focus on the radicalisation of Abedi and what the intelligence services and counter-terrorism police knew, and if they could have prevented the attack. It will be published at a later date.
With additional reporting from Jamie McCarron
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