Two young men were taken to an East London hospital after a thug hurled an alleged “noxious substance” at them in a busy East London high street on Monday at 10:24pm.
Police were called to Poplar High street on Monday night, where they found two victims – males aged 17 and 20 – having been sprayed with the liquid, feared to be acid. The 20-year-old was treated for minor injuries to his eyes, police, said. The 17-year-old did not suffer any serious injuries.
Dramatic video has since emerged of paramedics dousing the eyes of one the victims at the scene as shocked passersby watch on. Witnesses told officers that they saw the suspect, who has been described as a white man with short blonde hair and aged about 19 to 25, fleeing the scene in a red car in the direction of Cotton Street.
A police spokeswoman told the Evening Standard: “Police were called at 10:24pm on Monday, August 28 to reports of a noxious substance being sprayed in Poplar High Street.
“Officers, the London Ambulance Service and London Fire Brigade attended and found two victims, males aged 17 and 20. They were taken to an east London hospital.
“Victim one had no injuries and Victim two had minor injuries to his eyes.”
Officers from Tower Hamlets have since launched an investigation. No arrests have been made.
A crowd of people were also caught up in an "acid attack" at the Notting Hill Carnival on Sunday.
The Met Police said a "mild acidic liquid" was thrown over a number of people at St Charles Square, near to Ladbroke Grove, just before 8pm on Sunday. Three people reported "skin irritation" not thought to be serious, while two more were hurt in a subsequent stampede, when the liquid was thrown. No arrests have yet been made in connection with it.
As the Carnival finished, the police said there had been 313 arrests over the weekend, many relating to drugs and offensive weapons. More than 100 of the arrests - 112 - were for drugs offences, while there were 58 arrests for possession of an offensive weapon or knife/blade, 37 public order arrests and 17 common assault arrests. Some 14 arrests for sexual offences were also carried out, and 17 arrests for assault of police officers. However the numbers are so far lower than in 2016, when more than 450 people were arrested across the two days of festivities. A total of 28 officers received injuries this year, while police seized a number of knives, batons, CS spray and a hammer.
