Police in London Hunt Trio Suspected of Corrosive Substance Attack on Boys

A screengrab from CCTV footage of two people suspected of involvement in an attack with a corrosive substance at Elm Park station in east London on Feb. 25, 2024. British Transport Police

British Transport Police (BTP) have appealed for help in finding two men and a woman who are suspected of throwing a corrosive substance over two boys at an underground station in east London.

The incident comes four weeks after Abdul Ezedi, an Afghan refugee, attacked his former partner and a child with a corrosive alklaline substance in south London on Jan. 31.

In the latest incident the boys were at Elm Park station around 8 p.m. on Feb. 25, when a liquid was thrown on them.

BTP published several still images from CCTV cameras at the station on their website and urged the public to contact them about three people.

Detective Inspector Marvin Bruno, who is leading the investigation, said, “We are really keen to speak to the people in the images, or anyone else who witnessed the incident, as we believe they have information which could help our investigation. If you know them or have any information that might help, please get in touch.”

He added, “Violence in any form will not be tolerated on the rail network and we would like to reassure the travelling public that our officers are working tirelessly to identify and apprehend those responsible.”

The three are all white and in their late teens or early 20s.

The woman has long brown hair and was wearing a white top and carrying a puffer jacket, her face uncovered.

She was accompanied by a person, probably a man, who wore a black face covering, a baseball cap, and a black puffer jacket.

The third person, a man with light brown hair who was wearing a dark jacket, was caught on CCTV as he approached the ticket barrier with the pair.

Boys’ Injuries Not ‘Life-Changing’

The police said the boys were taken to hospital for treatment but their injuries are not thought to be life-threatening or life-changing.

Attacks with corrosive substances in London surged between 2012 and 2018 when Simon Harding, an expert on gangs and an associate professor in criminology at the University of West London, told the Evening Standard the capital was the acid attack hotspot of the Western world.

A screengrab of a CCTV image of three suspects wanted by police in connection with an incident involving a corrosive substance at Elm Park station in London on Feb. 25, 2024. British Transport Police

A Freedom of Information Act request by the Standard found acid attacks had jumped from 66 in 2012 to 752 in 2018.

But they dropped out of the headlines during the COVID-19 pandemic and the attack by Ezedi in Clapham last month was the first high profile incident involving a corrosive substance for some time.

Ezedi was a 31-year-old Afghan refugee who was granted asylum despite being convicted of a sex offence in Britain in 2018.

His asylum application was initially rejected, but he later was permitted to remain in the UK after claiming that he had converted to Christianity, The Telegraph reported.

Ezedi’s Body Washed Up Near Tower Bridge

A manhunt for Ezedi ended on Feb. 19 when his body was recovered from the River Thames near Tower Bridge.

The police had traced four hours of CCTV footage of Ezedi on the evening of the attack and said the last sighting of him was near Chelsea Bridge.

On Feb. 23 Commander Jon Savell said the body had been conclusively proved to be that of Ezedi.

A friend of Ezedi’s adult victim said she had lost her sight in one eye but was more focused on her children.

Mr. Savell said last week: “As the public would expect, our enquiries continue into this atrocious attack. The 31-year-old woman is still in hospital and remains in a stable condition and no longer sedated. We have still not been able to speak to her but hope to as soon as she is well enough.”

PA Media contributed to this report.