Met Police have released more detail about an alleged pepper spray attack which locked down Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 3 and caused hours of chaos for passengers
A three-year-old girl was among the 21 victims of an alleged pepper spray attack at Heathrow Airport this morning, police have said. Officers said is it understood a woman was “robbed of her suitcase by a group of four men,” who sprayed a substance believed to be pepper spray in her direction.
The incident at the airport’s Terminal 3 happened just after 8.11am today (December 7). Armed officers responded to reports of a group of people being assaulted in a multi-storey car park and the terminal was locked down.
A 31-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of assault, within nine minutes of the report coming in. He remains in custody and enquiries remain ongoing to locate further suspects.
The London Ambulance Service treated 21 people with injuries, including a three-year-old girl who was treated at the scene. Five people were taken to hospital. Their injuries are not believed to be life-changing or life-threatening.
Met Police Commander Peter Stevens said: “Our team have been working at pace today to review CCTV from the area and speak with witnesses at the scene.
“At this stage, it’s understood that a woman was robbed of her suitcase by a group of four men, who sprayed a substance believed to be pepper spray in her direction. This occurred within a car park lift, with those in the lift and surrounding area affected by the spray.
“Our officers are working to determine the full circumstances around what happened but we do believe this to be an isolated incident with those directly involved known to each other.
“We appreciate that this has been a concerning incident and I commend the actions of the emergency services and members of staff at Heathrow Airport.”
Some passengers described a “burning sensation” as a man “darted throught he crowd.” The incident caused chaos for people arriving who were were left waiting for hours for buses.
Eyewitness Tom Bate, who was waiting to be picked up from the car park, told the BBC he saw “young men dressed in black darting through the crowd”. He reported feeling a burning sensation at the back of his throat after they departed, with others nearby starting to cough.
While the search for other suspects continues, Scotland Yard has confirmed that the incident is not being treated as terrorism-related. Relieved, Mr Bate told the BBC: “I’m so glad to hear now that it’s not terrorism because it felt like I was in the middle of an attack – it was pretty intense,”.
Social media footage appears to show a man being handcuffed by an armed officer while another conducts a search. By noon, a throng of passengers were left stranded at the terminal’s bus stop, awaiting shuttles to the long-stay car park and other destinations.
One family, who chose to remain anonymous, revealed they had been stuck at the bus stop for three hours after their flight touched down around 8am.
Heathrow staff were seen distributing bottled water to the weary travellers on Sunday afternoon. Meanwhile, rail passengers at Heathrow Terminal 2/3 station were also caught up in lengthy queues due to overcrowding.
Policing minister Sarah Jones expressed her concern: “My thoughts are with all those affected by the incident at Heathrow this morning. My heartfelt thanks go to the emergency services for their rapid response – and the arrest made.”
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call 101, quoting CAD 1803 7 DEC.