Terrorist took London train on day of attack
SUICIDE bomber Salman Abedi travelled from London to Manchester on the day of his attack, the M.E.N. understands.
Sources say he arrived at Manchester Piccadilly on Monday after getting on a train in the capital.
Piccadilly station is close to Granby Row, near Sackville Street, where armed police brandishing machine guns, raided a flat on Wednesday.
Part of the railway line into Piccadilly was closed while the raid was carried out.
But the M.E.N. understands the flat was NOT - as reported elsewhere - a bomb factory, but it was simply the site of a rendezvous.
However, a raid on one of the Manchester premises targeted by police has revealed evidence that could indicate it was used for making devices. And there are fears that there could be more bombs at large created by the network Abedi was linked to.
Chief Constable Ian Hopkins has confirmed the eight arrests GMP have made since the attack are ‘significant’ and searches of premises, including the flat at Granby Row, have revealed ‘items’ which are ‘very important’ to the investigation.
There are reports via German intelligence that Abedi was in Dusseldorf about four days before the attack.
The rucksack he was carrying at the time of the attack was bought in Sports Direct, in Manchester’s Arndale Centre, on Friday evening. The blue Karrimorbranded backpack was purchased from the basement of the store for about £18.
There are indictions that Abedi paused outside the Arena for a period of time then walked into the foyer of the venue and detonated his device to cause maximum injury.