Madrid: Whoever committed Monday night’s bombing at Manchester Arena was able to take advantage of security lapses at the popular 21,000-seat concert venue.
And those who attended the Ariana Grande show were able to walk through the token security presence with bags unchecked.
“None of our bags were checked at all,” 19-year-old Hannah Robertson from Glasgow said, while Alex Pemberton from Burnley said: “We didn’t get a bag check going into the arena.”
If those reports are accurate, then the suicide bomber who detonated his device in the arena’s foyer, killing 22 and injuring scores, took advantage of those lapses.
A senior London Metropolitan Police source told Gulf News Tuesday morning: “There are holes in the arena’s security plan big enough for a lot of people to be very concerned.”
At London’s Wembley Stadium, where sporting fixtures and music concerts regularly attract crowds of 80,000, everyone entering the stadium is screened through scanners and all bags are checked at a level slightly below that of departure checks at airports.
“Basically, once a security perimeter is in place, everyone inside that is in a sterile area,” the source said. “It’s clear that hasn’t occurred in this [Manchester Arena] instance.”
Those who attended other concerts at the Manchester Arena also said security was lapse, with no pat-downs, scanners and cursory bag checks.
“If that’s true, then the arena was wide open,” the London police official said. “That wouldn’t happen in London.”
Other security experts agreed. One former member of the UK’s National Counter Terrorism Office described the attack as “sophisticated”.
Speaking to the BBC Radio 5 Live, Lee Dodderidge said: “Alarm bells for me are ringing at the moment because this would have appeared to have taken quite a considerable amount of planning. “Albeit, some people may look at it and say it is a lone wolf - it does indicate there was a lot of planning put into this attack.”
