Heathrow incident: Everything we know about airport ‘pepper spray attack’ which injured 21 including 3-year-old girl
Several people were injured following a suspected tear gas attack at Heathrow Airport on Sunday.
Passengers faced serious disruption at the main transport hub when armed police descended on the airport’s multi-storey car park in Terminal 3 at around 8:11am.
Police announced that the incident began when a woman’s suitcase was opened in a parking lot elevator by a group of four people who sprayed her with what was believed to be pepper spray.
A 3-year-old child was among the 21 people injured in the incident.
Police said a 31-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of assault but did not treat the incident as terrorism-related.
Here’s everything we know about the incident:
What happened?
The incident took place at around 08:00 on Sunday morning, in the multi-storey car park directly opposite the check-in area of Terminal 3.
Police said the incident began when a woman was carrying her suitcase in a parking lot elevator when a group of four people sprayed a substance believed to be pepper spray towards her.
Witness Tom Bate said he saw “young men dressed in black moving quickly through the crowd” as he waited to be picked up from the car park.
He said that after they left, he felt a burning sensation in his throat and other people nearby started coughing.
Mr Bate told the BBC: “I was delighted to hear it wasn’t terrorism because it felt like I was in the middle of an attack; it was quite violent.”
Who was injured?
London Ambulance Service said 21 people were injured in the attack, including a three-year-old girl.
Five people were taken to hospital as a result, but police said the injuries were not life-changing or life-threatening.
Has anyone been arrested?
A 31-year-old man was arrested at the scene and detained on suspicion of assault. Officers were still tracking other suspects Sunday.
The Met Police said the incident is believed to be an isolated incident and the people directly involved are believed to know each other.
Police added that the incident was not believed to be linked to terrorism or protest.
How were passengers affected?
The incident led to travel chaos as trains and buses to the airport were stopped and roads leading to the central area of the airport were temporarily closed.
While passengers were advised to allow extra time, holidaymakers later reported being stranded at airport bus stops for hours.
By noon, dozens of passengers were waiting at the terminal’s bus stop for shuttles to the long-term parking lot and other destinations. A family who did not want to give their name said that they waited at the bus stop for 3 hours after their plane landed around 08:00 in the morning.
Heathrow staff handed out bottled water to waiting passengers on Sunday afternoon. Rail passengers at Heathrow Terminal 2/3 station also faced long queues due to overcrowding.
At least 17 trains serving Heathrow Terminals 2 and 3 were canceled or passed without stopping.
Terminal 3 is used by Virgin Atlantic, Delta, Emirates, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, Singapore Airlines and many other major carriers. British Airways has a presence in the terminal as well as its home base, Terminal 5.
Terminal 3 will remain open on Monday and is currently operating normally.
