A woman was targeted with pepper spray in a suspected suitcase robbery at Heathrow Airport, the Metropolitan Police has said.
A three-year-old girl is among the 21 people injured during the attack, the emergency services confirmed.
Armed police were deployed to Heathrow Airport Terminal 3 on Sunday morning after several people were sprayed with a substance believed to be pepper spray.
Commander Peter Stevens said it is understood that a woman was “robbed of her suitcase by a group of four men” in a car park lift, with those in the lift and the surrounding area affected by the spray.
Five victims have been taken to hospital, with a total of 21 patients cared for at the scene, the London Ambulance Service (LAS) said.
The three-year-old child was treated at the scene for minor injuries, the Met Police and LAS confirmed to The i Paper.
The force said a 31-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of assault and remains in custody, and an investigation is underway with police tracing further suspects.
Commander Stevens, of the Met Police, said: “At this stage, 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.
“Our officers are working to determine the full circumstances around what happened but we do believe this to be an isolated incident with those directly involved known to each other.”
In an update at around 11:45am, Heathrow Airport said the incident has now been contained but “congestion remains on surrounding roads”, which it is working to resolve “as quickly as possible”.
Passengers have faced three-hour delays for a shuttle to the long-stay car park after their flight, with staff handing out bottles of water to those waiting in long queues, according to reports.
Images have circulated on social media showing a police firearms unit, several ambulances and fire engines at the scene, as well as a huge backlog of vehicles in the area.
One eyewitness described “a lot of commotion” followed by “a flood of police cars” shortly after 8am, with several armed response units, ambulances and fire engines.
Umar Javed, 41, who was waiting for an Uber home when the incident kicked off, said members of the public were “a bit panicked” and there were reports of “screaming” as several people were sprayed with a substance.
Officers were called shortly after 8am on Sunday morning following reports of “multiple people being assaulted” at the multi-storey car park at Terminal 3, the police said.
Another eyewitness told the BBC he saw “armed police running around and checking people’s vehicles” as he was attempting to leave the car park.
The force said: “A number of people were sprayed with what is believed to be a form of pepper spray by a group of men who then left the scene.
“Armed response officers attended and arrested one man on suspicion of assault. He remains in custody and enquiries continue to trace further suspects.”
Another video circulating online, which has not been verified, appears to show a man being apprehended by officers.
A former counter-terrorism officer previously deployed at London airports told The i Paper that Heathrow is an “extremely closely monitored” environment, but that spaces outside of terminal buildings, such as the car park, are likely to see “slightly slower response time”.
They said: “An environment like Heathrow is extremely closely monitored and there are tried and tested procedures for responding to incidents impacting public safety. We saw some of that response this morning with armed units in quick attendance alongside the other emergency services.
“Heathrow is a large and highly complex security environment. The places with the highest concentrations of individuals, such as terminal buildings, will be the most tightly controlled. Places like the car parks will see a slightly slower response time but you are still talking about an ability to deploy a substantial presence rapidly.”
They added that if there are multiple individuals involved in the incident, they are expected to be “traced and apprehended at pace”.
‘A flood of police cars’
An eyewitness described a “flood of police cars” rushing to the scene shortly after 8am on Sunday morning.
Javed, who had just returned from Dubai and was waiting for an Uber home at the time, told The i Paper: “As soon as I came to the Uber waiting area, there was a lot of commotion, and a flood of police cars started coming in.
“Usually you hear the siren for one or two police cars, and then additional specialist response units, like the firearms units… turned up, so you kind of know that there’s something going on.
“A few moments later, they had some ambulances turn up, and fire engines. And it didn’t seem like a normal minor incident… It seemed like as if something was building up.”
Javed said the traffic was “blockaded” while police patrolled the ground level of the car park as if they were “searching for someone”.
He recalled seeing up to 10 police cars, around five firearms cars, four fire engines and up to six ambulances, as well as a command support vehicle which provides a central hub for coordinating the response between services.
Javed then described seeing officers apprehend a suspect: “I saw one of the police vans there. They’d apprehended a suspect… they’d handcuffed and put into the back of their van.”
He said other people at the scene reported “people screaming” as a gas was sprayed in the car park.
“People were a bit panicked and a bit frustrated,” he added.
Javed, who was still waiting for an Uber home at 11:15am, said that the situation was still “dynamic” with traffic “still locked up” but the queues were slowly improving.
London Ambulance Service attended the scene and the victims were taken to hospital with injuries that are “not believed to be life-changing or life-threatening”, the Met said.
Commander Stevens said in an earlier statement: “At this stage, we believe the incident involved a group of people known to each other, with an argument escalating and resulting in a number of people being injured.
“Our officers responded quickly and there will be an increased police presence at Heathrow Airport throughout the morning, to continue enquiries and ensure the safety of those in the area.”
The police added that there is ongoing traffic disruption in the area but Terminal 3 remains open.
London Ambulance Service said it was called to the incident at 8:04am, writing in a statement: “We sent a number of resources to the scene, and cared for 21 patients.
“Five patients were taken to hospital.”
London Fire Brigade added that it was called to assist at 8:14am, with firefighters “providing specialist assistance alongside multi-agency partners at the scene”.
Heathrow Airport confirmed at the time that “teams are responding to an incident with the emergency services in the multi storey car park in Terminal 3”.
“Passengers are advised to allow extra time when travelling to the airport and to check with their airline for any queries,” a spokesperson said.
“There will be an increased police presence at Heathrow Airport to maintain the safety of people in the area and reassure the public,” they added in a later update.
Footage on social media showed a huge backlog of cars, with eyewitnesses reporting that a short-stay car park entrance has been shut off, with vehicles unable to leave the vicinity or enter the drop-off zone.
National Rail said that lines serving the airport, including the Elizabeth Line and Heathrow Express, were temporarily closed while the emergency services responded to the incident.
Lines have since reopened but further delays and cancellations can be expected until 11:45am, National Rail added.
