Manchester Arena Inquiry: Dad helping arena victims 'told to leave by police'

A father who tried to help victims of the Manchester Arena bombing was ordered to leave the area by armed police, the public inquiry into the 2017 attack has heard.

Daren Buckley, from Salford, was leaving the arena with his son when the explosion happened.

He went to the foyer to help but was told to leave after 20 minutes as police said it was a "crime scene".

Mr Buckley said he replied: "Somebody has got to help."

He described covering his son's eyes to stop him seeing the aftermath of the bombing.

Twenty-two people died and hundreds more were injured when Salman Abedi detonated a device at the end of an Ariana Grande concert on 22 May 2017.

Mr Buckley, from Swinton, told the inquiry as he and his son were walking towards the foyer at the end of the concert "there was a huge flash and bang and the doors sort of slammed towards us".

He said he was trained in first aid and had left his son with a member of staff and then went to the City Room to assist casualties.

Mr Buckley told the hearing armed police officers had come in and said: "You need to leave the area, you're in a crime scene."

"I said [yes] it's obvious...but it's a case of nobody's helping so somebody has got to help," he said.

The court heard he left the scene and went to collect his son.

He said he was later told to go back through the City Room to leave the area as "it was the safest route as it had been checked".

As they walked through he said he had covered his 21-year-old son's eyes to shield him from seeing the impact of the blast.

The inquiry also heard a statement from John Clarkson, a senior stage-builder for SMG, the arena operators.

He said he had heard the explosion and received a radio alert for anyone with first aid skills to go into the City Room.

He was then told: "You don't have to do it, it's going to ruin your life", but he went to help, the inquiry heard.

His statement said: "The first person I saw was a young girl. She looked at me and said, 'Am I going to die?"'

Mr Clarkson stayed with the girl, Lucy Jarvis, who was 17 at the time, until she was taken away by paramedics.

On Tuesday, Ms Jarvis told the inquiry Mr Clarkson "probably" saved her life.

The inquiry also heard from Martin Hibbert who had attended the concert with his daughter and was crossing the foyer when the bomb exploded.

He said in his statement it was "like when you are watching a film, like a war film when a bomb goes off...and it just goes silent".

"It was like that so I knew something bad had happened.

"It seemed like it took ages for the paramedics to arrive. People were confused and shouting 'What do we do?'.

"It seemed like forever," he said.

He said he thought they were going to move him but he said: "Don't worry about me, look after my daughter because I do not think I am going to make it."

Janet Capper, who went to the concert with her family, told the inquiry in her statement: "I vividly recall seeing how happy all the children were as they were leaving.

"It was no longer than five minutes later that there was a massive explosion."

The hearing also heard the elder brother of the Manchester Arena bomber will be told he must appear in person to give evidence at the public inquiry into what happened.

The inquiry continues.

Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to [email protected]