Manchester Arena bombing: If emergency response wasn't 'inadequate', one victim could have survived

The latest inquiry found on Thursday (November 3) that one of those killed in a suicide bombing at a concert in the English city of Manchester in 2017, would have likely lived if the response by the emergency services had not been so inadequate.

Sir John Saunders, chairman of the Manchester Arena Inquiry, said that John Atkinson's injuries were "survivable" but he did not receive the "treatment and care he should have".

On May 22, 2017, a suicide bomber detonated a bomb at Manchester Arena when parents arrived to pick up their children at the end of a concert by American singer Ariana Grande. Twenty-two people died in the attack, the youngest just eight years old. More than 200 were injured.

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Saunders said that after the attack, courageous individuals were helping the victims, but many things "did go badly wrong". He said, "Those who have listened to the evidence will not be surprised that I am highly critical of many aspects of the rescue operation."

Since there weren't enough ambulances to transport the injured to the hospital, Atkinson was taken from the scene together with the other victims of the explosion using temporary stretchers made of advertising hoardings and railings.

His family said in a statement: "It is now clear beyond any doubt that on the night of the bombing John was totally failed at every stage."

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The youngest victim, Saffie-Rose Roussos, may have survived if the rescue effort had been efficient, according to Saunders, even though it was clear from the evidence that 20 people would have perished from their wounds.

Her father Andrew had said to the hearing that the paramedic's answer to her question, "Am I going to die?," had been "shameful and inadequate." The inquiry heard horrifying stories of how she too was carried out on a homemade stretcher.

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