Manchester attack fire crews 'ashamed' over response delay

Firefighters felt "ashamed" they could not help victims of the Manchester Arena attack more quickly, the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has said.

Crews were "out of the loop" and took two hours to attend the scene of the blast, which killed 22 people last May.

Mark Rowe, north-west secretary, said "the order never came down from the top", leaving firefighters "angry".

The fire service's chief has apologised for the failures, highlighted in a report by Lord Kerslake.

It looked into the emergency services' response after suicide bomber Salman Abedi detonated a home-made device at 22:31 BST as 14,000 people streamed out of an Ariana Grande concert on 22 May.

Mr Rowe said: "Members were very angry that they weren't being deployed to the scene.

WONDER WHY THEY WERE NEVER GIVEN THE ORDER!!

[link to www.bbc.co.uk]