A man has been arrested on suspicion of assault after people were allegedly attacked with a “form of pepper spray” at a multistorey car park at Heathrow Airport Terminal 3, police have said. The Metropolitan Police said armed officers were called to the terminal’s car park at about 8.11am on Sunday to a report of people being assaulted.
A group of men allegedly sprayed people with what was believed to be a kind of pepper spray before leaving the scene. The London Ambulance Service said it had treated 21 patients, of whom five were taken to hospital. Among those treated was a three-year-old girl.
Police believe the incident involved the theft of a suitcase and that those directly involved were known to each other. Commander Peter Stevens said: “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.”
Tom Bate, a passenger who was caught up in the incident after landing at Heathrow, described how people began coughing and his throat burned. “Everyone was coughing and looking at each other thinking how weird it was that we were coughing at the same time,” he said. He added that he saw three men without luggage running past the lift lobby, and shortly after, people started coughing.
Police said the victims’ injuries were not believed to be life-changing or life-threatening. The terminal remained open throughout, though the incident caused some traffic and public transport disruption. A Heathrow spokesperson said its teams were responding with the emergency services.
