Stratford acid 'attack': Police arrest 15-year-old boy after six injured near Westfield centre

A 15-year-old boy has been arrested after six people were injured on Saturday night in what police suspect was a mass acid attack in Stratford, east London.

It came after a "noxious substance" was thrown in several areas – including by the Westfield shopping centre and Olympic Park – during a stand-off between two groups of males, police said.

Witnesses described how innocent victims caught in the crossfire screamed in pain after being hit with fluid, with one shouting: "‘I can’t see, I can’t see."

They said the attacks came after a brawl erupted inside the Stratford Centre between the youths and the trouble then spilled outside.

Police and emergency services rushed to the scene amid the panic in the aftermath of the fight that broke out shortly before 8pm.

Hundreds of shoppers were in the area amid the stand-off, who moved back and forth between the Stratford Centre and the larger Westfield Centre opposite.

Commuters were also streaming in and out of Stratford station when the dangerous liquid was thrown into crowds.

Six males were injured in the attack, with three hospitalised, emergency services said.

Police said the group of males fled after the attack.

Officers later arrested a 15-year-old male on suspicion of grievous bodily harm. He was taken to an east London police station where he is currently being questioned.

Witnesses told of the horror after the attack. A man who gave his name as Hossen, 28, a Burger King assistant manager, said he saw a victim and his friend, a known local homeless man, run into the fast food outlet’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.”
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/stratford-acid-apos-attack-apos-093549331.html

These attacks are beyond barbaric, and the police don't seem to be getting on top of them at all - terrifying.

bb1 wrote:These attacks are beyond barbaric, and the police don't seem to be getting on top of them at all - terrifying.

The problem is how do you know that the innocent bottle of what appears to be water is in fact acid. It is the utimate easy to conceal weapon. You have to cock a gun or throw a knife but everyone drinks water and a bottle is easily tossed onto the ground. It shows how nasty humankind is. LL

It does indeed, LL, I find myself increasingly despairing of much of humanity.