Is a SECOND terrorist who built Manchester bomb on the loose?

FEARS were mounting last night that the Manchester suicide bomber may have built a second device that is now in the hands of jihadists.

Officers who raided the home of Salman Abedi allegedly discovered a huge stash of explosive chemicals and other components.

The quantity of material has led to fears that he could have built more than one device and distributed them to other UK-based jihadists.

Security officials are also examining the possibility that a bomb maker behind the device has fled overseas.

They believe Abedi, , probably made most of the sophisticated explosive himself while at a terror training camp in a conflict zone. Investigators have not ruled out the possibility that he travelled to Syria where he met Islamic extremists. They may have taught him how to develop improvised explosive devices – used by jihadists in the war-ravaged region. However it is thought he had a ‘degree’ of co-operation from someone else, who is now thought to have left the country.

Last night sources said there were fears the extremist who helped him fled the UK before the blast. They are working around the clock to try to hunt him down.

Intelligence experts are understood to be checking CCTV footage at key ports going back 48 hours from the attack. As they work their way through uncovering the network of Libyanlinked extremists, they are finding more details about the different roles jihadists have played.