Clapham chemical attack – live: Man arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender as victim fights for life
A man has been arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender as the manhunt continues for chemical attack suspect Abdul Ezedi.
Officers have been searching for the 35-year-old since Wednesday after a 31-year-old and her daughters, aged eight and three, were attacked with a “very strong concentrated corrosive substance” in Clapham, south London.
In their latest update, the Metropolitan Police said that the woman remains in a very critical but stable condition, with significant facial injuries that will likely remain for the rest of her life.
The Metropolitan Police have offered a £20,000 reward for information on the chemical attack suspect, as a former senior police officer said that Ezedi could have taken his own life or be using an ally to stay hidden.
Nick Aldworth, a former national counter-terrorism co-ordinator, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I think if we’ve not seen or heard from him in the the last couple of days, which appears to be the case, he’s gone to ground, possibly supported by somebody… or it’s not unlikely or improbable that he may have taken his own life.
The convicted sex offender was last seen exiting Tower Hill Station at 9.33pm on Wednesday after travelling down from Newcastle that day.
