This is the chilling moment a suspected acid attacker rams a car at a mother before taking a child wearing school uniform out of a car and slamming her to the floor ‘like he was in a wrestling ring’.
The disturbing footage shows a man running towards the driver’s door in Lessar Avenue, opposite Clapham Common, and getting inside before ploughing the white car into a woman, aged 31, as members of the public surround the vehicle and rush to her aid.
He is still on the run this morning after he doused the mother and her children, aged 8 and 3, in chemicals. The woman and the younger child’s injuries could be life-changing, Scotland Yard said.
One horrified witness was wearing his slippers as he chased after the attacker.
He said it was the ‘worst thing I’ve ever seen’ and told Sky News: ‘First a man grabbed his kid – a girl aged two or three from a white car. He threw her onto the floor – twice.’
A mother told she dashed to save the girl – believed to be three years old – and scooped her up from the middle of the road.
The sickening clip shows hero passers-by trying to help the family as ‘about 10 people’ chase after the suspected attacker as he runs away.
She screamed ‘I can’t see, I can’t see’ as hero passers-by rushed to her and her two young daughters’ aid in the tree-lined street at 7.25pm last night.
The mother’s lips ‘turned black’ and her face was ‘stripped off’, according to a witness. She is now feared to be blind.
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This is the chilling moment a suspected acid attacker rams a car at a mother before taking a child out of a car and slamming her to the floor
The disturbing footage shows a man running towards the driver’s door and getting inside before driving the white car into a woman as members of the member rush to her aid
Photos from the scene show an abandoned white Hyundai i20 hatchback abandoned with its doors open on the street where homes sell for as much as £3million
The three victims are among nine injured as eight have been rushed to hospital after the horror incident in south London , police said
Forensics at the scene take picture of the location of the attack close to Clapham Common
The car appears to have crashed into other parked vehicles as it came to a stop on the residential road
Forensics were seen closely examining a silver thermal carry-cup, which was located next to a bin
Two scientists could be seen crowding around the mug, which appeared to have an evidence marker
A mark appeared to have been left on the car’s window, while the windscreen had been shattered
A mother, who only gave her name as Sharon, ran to the schoolgirl’s side who had twice been slammed to the floor by the man ‘like he was in a wrestling ring’.
She told she came outside from her home as there ‘was a lot of commotion’ and ‘I heard a lot of screaming’.
‘The little one was thrown to the floor,’ she said. ‘It was aggressive. He threw her down on the floor. Then he picked her up and threw her down again.
‘At that point that’s when I ran in and just grabbed her, because I couldn’t watch. I took her to my block.
‘I had run in, a lot of people were running towards him – about 10. Everyone had heard the commotion. I think he got scared and ran away.’
She said the man ran towards the Common end of the road.
‘She [the girl] was three-years-old,’ she said. ‘I didn’t see anything on her clothes, but there was something on her coat that got transferred to me.
‘It all happened so fast. It didn’t look like it was on her skin. She landed on her face. It was scratched, bruised. I couldn’t see blood.
‘I saw the mother afterwards. She then walked up and said: “I can’t see! I can’t see!”.
‘Her face was red and sore. Her eyes were closed and she was screaming: “I can’t see!”
‘That’s when I realised something had been thrown at her. So I called for someone to get water.’
She described the man as short, white and dressed all in black. The mother was also short, white with black hair. Both her daughters were white with black hair.
One witness who chucked water over the family as the thug fled the scene told BBC Radio 4 they had seen the woman ‘arguing’ with a man before he launched his vile attack.
The family had been in a white car with a man when he and the mother got out and started fighting, according to one eyewitness.
She told The Sun he went back to the car and ‘tried to run the woman over’ and ‘there was a little baby girl banging on the door on the man’s side’.
‘He opened the door, took out the baby and banged her against the ground twice, I’m talking hard bang,’ she said.
The three victims remain in hospital this morning with one woman telling she saw a child with a burn mark under her eye. They were among nine people injured, with eight needing hospital treatment, after the horror incident in south London, police said.
The mother and her children they were first taken to the Clapham South Belvedere hotel last night where residents at the property said they were doused by police and ambulance staff.
One woman told she saw a child with a burn mark under her eye while another man, also staying at the hotel, said he heard screams while the woman was taken to the toilets by staff.
A police cordon has now been lifted with no officers appearing to be at the scene. A clinical waste bag has been left strewn outside of the home in the leafy street where properties sell for up to £3million.
Meanwhile a section of the road on Lessar Avenue remains damp from where officers are thought to have washed down the area.
One woman who lives nearby to the scene said she heard a ‘loud bang’ and when she came outside saw police.
‘I am not sure what happened,’ she told . ‘I heard something a loud bang. When I went out the house there were police everywhere and I couldn’t get out of my house at all.
‘This morning I was told someone threw acid.’
Another witness described the ‘crazy’ scenes to BBC Breakfast as he tried to ‘dredge’ her with water.
‘Her lips were completely black,’ he said.
‘Her face look really burnt, like stripped off basically.’
And the Met Police is now engaging in a manhunt, using a helicopter in their pursuit of the attacker. Forensics teams at the scene could be seen inspecting a coffee cup which may have been used to throw the acid.
A witness who said he had tried to clean the chemical from the woman’s face told Sky News: ‘It was horrific. First a man grabbed his kid – a girl aged two or three from a white car. He threw her onto the floor – twice! It was the worst thing I’ve ever seen.
‘The man then threw something at the woman. She was screaming, ‘my eyes! My eyes!’
‘I then ran into my house, grabbed a water bottle and threw water on her eyes. Her lips were black. Her skin looked burnt.’
Forensics examined the interior of the stricken car, while a mark had been left on the window
Evidence could be seen bagged up by police next to the scene of the attack
The scene on the residential south London street has been cordoned off as forensics scour the road
The stricken car appears to have a shattered windscreen and pictures show an abandoned bobble hat lying close by
Officers have launched an investigation after a suspected corrosive substance was thrown at the trio in Lessar Avenue, Clapham South
Three other people – who are all adults – have also been rushed to hospitals after sustaining injuries while it is believed they were rushing to the family’s aid
Officers remain at the crime scene as they investigate the suspected south London acid attack
His partner, a woman in her 20s, added that they had both come back from hospital after drops of the substance also got on her.
Beside the family three other people – who are all adults – were also rushed to hospitals after sustaining injuries.
A further three police officers received medical attention after responding to the scene, although their injuries were said to be minor.
All but the first three were said to have been ‘inadvertently’ injured while rushing to the family’s aid.
Photos from the scene show an abandoned white Hyundai i20 hatchback with its doors open on the street where homes sell for as much as £3million.
The stricken car appears to have a shattered windscreen and pictures show an abandoned hat lying close by.
Forensics were also seen closely examining a silver thermal carry-cup, which was located next to a bin.
Marina Ahmad, Labour’s London Assembly member for Lambeth & Southwark, posted on X: ‘There has been a traffic collision with a man assaulting occupants in a car and throwing acid. Victims include children.’
Stretham MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy said she was ‘very concerned to hear reports of an acid attack’.
A large police presence can be seen on the road, which sits directly next to Clapham Common. Fire engines and ambulances were also on the scene.
Of the nine people treated by the London Ambulance Service, five were taken to a major trauma centre and three were taken to a local hospital. The ninth was discharged at the scene.
There is also a cordon surrounding the nearby Clapham South Belvedere hotel.
Detective Superintendent Alexander Castle said: ‘Officers are on scene following this horrific incident.
‘Three victims – a woman and her two young children – have been taken to hospital for treatment.
‘Three other people – all adults – have been taken to hospital for injuries sustained, we believe, as they came to their aid. We will update as soon as we know more about their conditions.
‘Three police officers have also been taken to hospital after they responded to the incident. Thankfully we believe their injuries to be minor.
‘While tests are ongoing to determine what the substance is, at this stage we believe it to be a corrosive substance.
‘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.
It is believed all but the first three victims were ‘inadvertently’ injured while rushing to the family’s aid
The attacker fled the scene after the incident, with Metropolitan Police hunting the assailant
Of the nine people treated by the London Ambulance Service, five were taken to a major trauma centre and three were taken to a local hospital
A large police presence can be seen on the road, which sits directly next to Clapham Common. Fire engines and ambulances were also on the scene
‘The National Police Air Service are assisting us. Any members of the public who can help us with information or material should call 999 immediately ref CAD 7790/31 Jan.’
A London Ambulance Service spokesperson added that they had sent two incident response officers, three ambulance crews, and members of their hazardous area response team to the scene.
It came after being called to reports of an incident shortly before 7.30pm.
They said: ‘We treated nine people, five of whom were taken to a major trauma centre. Three patients were taken to a local hospital and the other was discharged at the scene.’
A spokesperson for London Fire Brigade said the service left the scene at 9.21pm after being originally called to Clapham South at 7.35pm.
They said: ‘Firefighters were called to a chemical incident on Lessar Avenue in Clapham this evening.
‘Working alongside emergency service partners, crews provided immediate emergency care to a woman and two children.
‘Five further people were also treated at the scene. They were all taken to hospital by London Ambulance Service crews.
‘Crews also used specialist equipment to detect a corrosive substance that is believed to have been used in the incident.’