Manchester attack report: Confusion kept firefighters away

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LONDON (AP) - An inquiry says British firefighters were not allowed to go to the scene of the Manchester Arena bombing for more than two hours because of confusion about whether an attacker was still on the loose.

The head of an inquiry into the attack response says "a valuable resource was not available to assist" because the fire service was "out of the loop."

Firefighters were kept away because the senior officer on duty mistakenly believed there was an "active shooter" situation.

The inquiry led by senior civil servant Bob Kerslake said Tuesday it was not able to determine whether quicker deployment of firefighters could have saved lives. It said that was for coroners' inquests to decide.

A suicide bomber killed 22 people at an Ariana Grande concert on May 22 in Manchester.

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