- Written by Jake Lapham, Anna O’Neill, Ellie Price
- BBC News
Witnesses have described the “horrific” scene after a mother and her two daughters were doused in a car with a “corrosive substance” in south London.
One witness told the BBC that the mother screamed “I can’t see, I can’t see” as she tried to help. “It was very scary,” he added.
The Metropolitan Police said the injuries to the mother and three-year-old girl could be “life-changing”.
The attack appears to be a targeted attack.
Shannon, who lives on the street, said she ran outside after hearing “a lot of screaming”, “bangs” and “the sound of someone saying ‘help'”.
“I was running outside and I saw this guy throwing a kid on the floor. He picked her up and threw her again.”
Ms Shannon said she ran over, grabbed the child and carried him safely to the apartment block.
“Then I saw her mother walking down the street saying, “I can’t see, I can’t see.”
At that point, her partner took off in pursuit of the suspect.
“I chased him down the road but couldn’t get very far because he was wearing slippers,” his partner told the BBC.
“When I came back, that’s when I saw the woman who had been attacked…so I went inside to get some water and sprayed her with water.”
He explained that her face had severe burns.
After tending to one of the children involved, Shannon suffered minor burns to her face, arms and lips and was taken to hospital, but was later released.
“My skin started to tingle, my face started to tingle,” she said.
A resident named Abdul said he found the baby’s shoes on the street while returning home from a dentist appointment.
“It was a pretty stressful moment, with people screaming everywhere and 15 police cars and the fire brigade.”
“It was really shocking for it to happen so close to home.”
He said police frequently patrol the streets.
Another resident, who told the BBC his name was David, witnessed the aftermath of the incident.
“People on the street [are] That’s horrible. This is a shock because this is a safe area.”
As the search for the attackers began, residents said they heard helicopter noises throughout the night.
The nature of the attack has left residents distressed. “How could a person do something like this?” asked one of the neighbors.
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