At least 21 people have been injured in a pepper spray attack at Heathrow Airport. The attack was prompted by a bag robbery, police say. One man has been arrested.
On Sunday morning, police received an alert about a "major incident" in the parking garage for Terminal 3 at Heathrow Airport in London.
Nine minutes later, a man was arrested, reports Sky News.
The man is suspected of involvement in a robbery – and of a pepper spray attack.
Three-year-old girl injured
The initial alarm was about a robbery – a woman who had her suitcase stolen by a group of four men.
During the robbery, the men sprayed some form of pepper spray at the woman.
"This happened in a lift in a parking garage," said police officer Peter Stevens, according to Sky News.
Several people in and around the elevator were injured. A total of 21 people were injured, including a three-year-old girl. Five of them needed to be taken to hospital. None of them suffered life-threatening injuries.
Hunting for perpetrators
A 31-year-old man was arrested at the scene and is now suspected of assault. The hunt for the man's accomplices is still ongoing. "At this time, we believe the incident involved a group of people who know each other, where an argument escalated and resulted in several people being injured," said Commander Peter Stevens in a press release. The incident is considered to be isolated and is not believed to be related to terrorism or protests.
Stop in traffic
Train traffic to and from the airport was completely halted during the morning. The incident was expected to cause delays and cancellations in the morning as well, the national train company wrote on its website.
The road tunnels to Heathrow were completely closed and motorists were urged not to leave their cars, local media reported. The National Highways Authority wrote on X that: ”A serious incident in the tunnel at Heathrow Airport has led to the M4 southbound exit between the M4 and J4A being closed.”
Half an hour later they stated that the problem was resolved. Police will have an increased presence at the airport during the day and Terminal 3 will remain open.
Source: Aftonbladet.se
