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Jess Battison
A mum and her two daughters are among the nine injured in a horrific ‘acid’ attack in south London.
The family, three police officers and two other members of the public who tried to help them were taken to hospital after the attack last night (31 January).
Witnesses told the BBC of the ‘horrific’ scene as the mum and her young girls were doused in their car with a ‘corrosive substance’ in Lessar Avenue near Clapham Common, London.
One witness added that the woman cried, ‘I can’t see, I can’t see’ while he tried to help her.
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The Metropolitan Police say emergency services were called to the scene in Clapham at 7:25pm on Wednesday after reports of an attack with a suspected ‘corrosive substance’.
Detective Superintendent Alexander Castle told the PA news agency that the responding officers’ injuries were ‘minor’.
“While tests are ongoing to determine what the substance is, at this stage we believe it to be a corrosive substance,” he said.
“A man was seen fleeing the scene. We are drawing on resources from across the Met to apprehend this individual and work is ongoing to determine what has led to this awful incident.”
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Police are currently searching for the suspect.
Marina Ahmad, Labour’s London Assembly member for Lambeth & Southwark, posted on X (formerly Twitter): “There has been a traffic collision with a man assaulting occupants in a car and throwing acid. Victims include children.”
A couple who live on Lessar Avenue told the BBC that they'd run out into the street after hearing a cry for help and then the sound of a car crashing.
"We came outside and saw this guy and he took a girl out of the car and he slammed her to the ground twice," a man said.
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"I chased him half way down the road, but I was in slippers so didn't get very far.
"As I came back, that's when I saw the woman who had been attacked ... so I ran inside to get some water and just sprayed her down with water.
"It was quite horrific."
Following the attack, eight people were taken to hospital - five to a major trauma centre, and three to a local hospital.
The witness's partner was later discharged.
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The London Ambulance Service say a ninth person was discharged at the scene.
However, police are yet to confirm the extent of the victims’ injuries.
The Home Office define a corrosive substance as ‘a substance capable of burning human skin by corrosion’.
LADbible has contacted the Metropolitan Police for comment.