Suicide bomb survivors take MI5 to court

More than 250 survivors of the suicide bombing that killed 22 people at a 2017 Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, are taking legal action against Britain’s domestic intelligence agency, lawyers said.

Lawyers from three firms said on Sunday they have submitted a group claim on behalf of more than 250 clients to Britain’s investigatory powers tribunal. They said they could not provide further details because it was a continuing legal matter.

Suicide bomber Salman Abedi detonated a 30kg home-made bomb in his rucksack in the Manchester Arena, in northwest England, at the end of Grande’s concert on May 22, 2017, as thousands of fans were leaving.

More than 100 people were injured, many of them children and teenagers. Abedi died in the explosion.

An official inquiry reported last year that Britain’s domestic intelligence agency, MI5, did not act swiftly enough on key information and missed a significant opportunity to prevent the bombing, the deadliest attack in the United Kingdom in recent years.

Abedi, an Islamist extremist, had been a “subject of interest” to MI5 officials in 2014, but his case was closed soon after because he was deemed to be low-risk.

The report also found that one MI5 officer admitted they considered intelligence about Abedi to be a possible national security concern, but did not discuss it with colleagues quickly enough.

Ken McCallum, the head of MI5, said in a rare televised statement that he was “profoundly sorry” his agency was unable to prevent the attack.