Manchester Arena bombing: Failures of emergency services slammed

Customer services assistant Angelika Klis, 39, and taxi driver Marcin Klis, 42, from York, were among those killed when an explosion went off in the City Room foyer of the venue at the end of an Ariana Grande concert on the evening of May 22, 2017.

Sir John Saunders, chairman of the inquiry, who today (Thursday) delivered his findings, said: “Significant aspects of the emergency response on 22nd May 2017 went wrong. This should not have happened."

The inquiry found that one of the 22 people murdered in the suicide bombing - care worker John Atkinson, 28 - would probably have survived but for inadequacies in the emergency response.

Sir John said: “Some of what went wrong had serious and, in the case of John Atkinson, fatal consequences for those directly affected by the explosion.”

The inquiry had heard that Angelika and Marcin Klis suffered injuries that were said to be unsurvivable.

Sir John Saunders, chairman of the Manchester Arena Inquiry, arrives at Manchester Hall ahead of the publication of the Manchester Arena Inquiry volume two report on emergency services response. Picture: PA

They were collecting their daughters Alexandra and Patrycia, aged 20 and 14, in the foyer.

The couple, who met and fell in love in their native Poland, were said by their daughters to have “shared a deep bond”, were “very caring” and would plan a family day out every few weeks.

They stood with their arms around each other as they waited for the concert to finish.

At the time of the explosion they were four metres away.

Mr Klis died of chest injuries and his partner from multiple injuries.

Only three paramedics entered the City Room on the night of the bombing, the inquiry heard.

• 'York couple died in each other's arms' - Manchester Arena inquiry hears

The initial command of the incident was taken by Greater Manchester Police’s force duty officer, Inspector Dale Sexton, but he “quickly became overburdened by the number of tasks he had to undertake”, the report found.

Sir John said: “This had a direct impact on the effectiveness of the emergency response. It affected who received information, what resources were made available and the decisions of other commanders.”

Following erroneous reports of gunshots, Inspector Sexton declared Operation Plato – a pre-arranged plan for a suspected marauding terrorist – but he “overlooked” telling other emergency services.

Police at the Manchester Arena at the end of a concert by US star Ariana Grande. Picture: PA

“It affected the ability of the emergency services to work together by jointly understanding the risks,” said Sir John.

“In the first quarter of an hour after the attack and thereafter, there was substantial confusion over the location of an RVP (rendezvous point). Each emergency service chose its own.”

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.

Sir John said: “The effect… was that the fire appliances at Manchester Central Fire Station drove away from, not towards, the incident. While driving away, the Manchester Central fire appliances drove past ambulances travelling in the opposite direction.”

He said that North West Ambulance Service operational commander Dan Smith made an “error” in not sending ambulances to meet at Manchester Central Fire Station rather go direct to the scene.

Just after midnight there were still 36 casualties waiting to go to hospital, with the last casualty departing at 02.50am on May 23.

Sir John said: “To those who experienced it, this period of time will have seemed interminable. It must not happen again.”