Detective Superintendent Alexander Castle said on Wednesday night: “Officers are on scene following this horrific incident.
“Testing is underway to determine what the substance is, but at this stage we believe it is a corrosive substance,” he said.
“A man was seen fleeing the scene. We are using resources across the Met to apprehend this individual and work is underway to establish what led to this horrific incident.” .”
No arrests have been made and police said they would update the situation on the injured as soon as possible.
“The National Police Air Force is assisting us. Members of the public with information or materials are asked to call 999 immediately (reference number CAD 7790/31 January),” a spokesperson said. said the person.
Marina Ahmad, Labor London MP for Lambeth & Southwark, posted on X: Victims include children. ”
London’s emergency service said it had sent members of its Hazardous Area Response Team to the scene.
“We were called at 7.29pm today (January 31) to reports of an incident at Clapham Common Southside, SW4,” a spokesperson said.
“We dispatched a number of personnel to the scene, including two incident response officers, three paramedics and members of the Hazardous Area Response Team.
“We treated nine people, five of whom were transported to major trauma centers. Three patients were transported to local hospitals and one other was discharged at the scene.”
In a post on Twitter, Vauxhall MP Florence Eshalomi wrote: