Abedi captured on CCTV in lift moments before detonating bomb
SALMAN ABEDI was caught on CCTV in a lift at Manchester Arena just moments before he set off his bomb and killed 22 people, it has emerged.
Shortly before committing the worst terrorist atrocity in Britain for more than 10 years, the 22year-old – wearing jeans, Nike trainers and a baseball cap – appeared to lean nonchalantly against the lift wall.
A detailed picture of the suicide bomber’s movements in his final hours is being pieced together by police who believe that they have now moved in on his closest associates.
But anyone who had contact with Abedi between his return to the UK on May 18 and his deadly attack last Monday is being asked to contact officers, who released CCTV footage of the bomber in the hope of gathering more information.
It has since emerged that the images, which had been blacked out by officers so the background could not be seen, were taken in the lift between Manchester’s Victoria Station and the arena
where he detonated his device. He then walked 65 yards into the arena and down 12 steps before detonating the nail bomb, according to the Sun on Sunday newspaper.
Abedi travelled to the Ariana Grande concert from a £75-a-night flat he had rented in the centre of Manchester in which it is understood he assembled the bomb.
From there he is believed to have made the five-minute walk to Piccadilly Station before taking a nine-minute tram to Victoria and making his way up to the scene of the bloodshed. The bomb was carried in a rucksack he had bought in the Arndale shopping centre the Friday before, having withdrawn £250 in cash.
He had only been back in Britain for five days when he launched his horrific attack.
On Wednesday, May 17, he boarded a plane from Libya to Istanbul in Turkey.
From there, he caught a flight to Düsseldorf, arriving back in the UK on the budget airline Flybe on Thursday.
Intelligence agencies are understood to be scouring CCTV footage from the German airport to see if he met anyone while in transit.