More than 250 survivors of the 2017 Ariana Grande concert bombing in Manchester, England, are seeking legal action against Britain’s domestic intelligence agency, lawyers announced.
Representatives from three law firms revealed on Sunday that they have filed a group claim on behalf of over 250 clients to the U.K.’s investigatory powers tribunal. Due to the ongoing legal nature of the matter, they were unable to provide further details.
The bombing, carried out by suicide bomber Salman Abedi at Manchester Arena on May 22, 2017, resulted in the death of 22 individuals. Over 100 people, many of whom were children and teenagers, sustained injuries in the attack. Abedi perished in the explosion.
An official inquiry conducted last year concluded that MI5, Britain’s domestic intelligence agency, failed to act promptly on crucial information and missed a significant opportunity to prevent the bombing, which was the deadliest extremist attack in recent years in the U.K.
Although Abedi had been flagged as a “subject of interest” to MI5 officials in 2014, his case was closed shortly thereafter as he was considered low risk.
The inquiry also revealed that an MI5 officer acknowledged that intelligence about Abedi posed a potential national security threat but failed to promptly communicate this information to colleagues.
Related Stories
Ken McCallum, the director of MI5, publicly expressed remorse in a rare televised statement for the agency’s failure to prevent the attack.
