Six hurt after being sprayed with noxious substance at Stratford Centre

Six people have been injured after a suspected noxious substance attack at a shopping centre.

A man has been arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm after the incident at the Stratford Centre, opposite Westfield, in east London.

Witnesses reported scenes of panic, with victims rushing to clean their wounds with water.

Police have told Sky’s Home Affairs Correspondent Mark White that the incident is not being treated as terror-related. He said there was also the possibility that other attackers were still at large.

Police at the scene described it as an acid attack and said “a number of people have been reported injured at different locations”.
Emergency services at Stratford Centre in east London, following a suspected noxious substance attack where six people have been reported injured.
Image: Police at the scene described the incident as an acid attack

Officers were called to the centre just before 8pm on Saturday after reports that a group of males were spraying what was believed to be a noxious substance.

Witnesses said an argument broke out among a group of people.

A man who gave his name as Hossen, 28, an assistant manager at Burger King, said he saw a victim and his friend, a local homeless man, run into the fast food restaurant’s toilets to “wash acid off his face”.

He said: “There were cuts around his eyes and he was trying to chuck water into them.”

Inside the Burger King toilets, water could be seen all over the floor along with toilet paper and medical gloves.
Emergency services at the Stratford Centre following a suspected noxious substance attack
Image: Witnesses said the incident happened after an argument broke out

People gathered at police cordons while victims were treated behind a blue screen.

Some of those at the scene were visibly upset by the incident, with one saying: “I can’t speak now, my mate’s been hurt.”

The London Ambulance Service and the London Fire Brigade also attended.

Paul Gibson, assistant director of operations at the London Ambulance Service, said: “We were called to the incident at 8.07pm and sent a number of resources including ambulance crews, paramedics in cars and members of our hazardous area response team.

“The first of our medics arrived within 10 minutes of the first emergency call and worked closely with our colleagues from the Metropolitan Police, British Transport Police and London Fire Brigade making sure patients received the medical help they needed as quickly as possible.

“We treated six patients in total and took three to London hospitals.”