“People were screaming in pain and running. I heard one person shouting he couldn’t see and saying ‘it’s in my eyes’.”
Three men, aged 17, 22 and 27, were injured after a noxious substance was thrown over them in Dalston, a famous LGBT area in North London. The attack happened the early hours of Sunday morning
Their injuries are not life-threatening however it is not known if they will be life changing, police said.
Two men appeared to target people in Kingsland High Road just after 5 am, one witness said. The police stated that is was not a homophobic attack though.
UK has one of highest rates of acid attacks in the world.
The man, who asked not to be named, told the Standard Evening Newspaper that he woke to hear “a commotion” outside a friend’s flat.
He described the moment, “A car stopped in the middle of the road and two men jumped out and started beating people”.
“They were punching at people walking either side of the road. One man was being kicked as he lay on the floor. The people were terrified, they weren’t fighting back.”
The men are then said to have taken water bottles from the car and began squirting passers-by with a “noxious substance”.
He added: “My first thought was ‘why are they squirting water’ but then I realized it was acid.
“People were screaming in pain and running. I heard one person shouting he couldn’t see and saying ‘it’s in my eyes’.”
One of the men then allegedly hurled a glass bottle onto the floor.
“The bottle smashed and people were screaming that they could smell acid. There was glass all over,” the witness said.
The man, who says he had left the club shortly before the attack, said he sped off as he attempted to contact the police.
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The witness had originally believed the victims had been leaving the popular gay club, Superstore. However, a spokesman for the venue said that the police have confirmed that they were not customers and that the venue was shut at the time of the attack.
— Dalston Superstore (@dsuperstore) May 8, 2018
Our thought are with them all ❤
h/t: Evening Standard
