Latest police update on Manchester Arena attack

Here's the latest on the "incredibly complicated" investigation.

Manchester Arena
Published 1st Sep 2017

Police have been giving us the latest on the Manchester Arena bombing investigation:

“The investigation is incredibly complicated. We now have over one million lines of communication data being examined.

“We have taken over 1,000 statements and have seized almost 11,000 exhibits. We still have staff drawn from across CT Policing to support the investigation and we will maintain this intensity for many months.

“The investigation has made significant progress and we now have a much clearer understanding of what happened. We have previously explained that we do not believe that this terrible attack was part of a wider plot and this remains the case.

“It has been reported widely that Hashem Abedi, who is under investigation, is still in Libya. We have previously explained that Hashem Abedi is of interest to the inquiry. This remains the case, Hashem Abedi is a suspect in the investigation and if he were here we would arrest him.

“We have had discussions with the Libyan authorities in respect of Hashem Abedi and at this time we cannot comment on any detail about this.