A three-year-old girl was among those treated for injuries after men allegedly used what police believe was pepper spray during a suitcase robbery at Heathrow Airport.
The Metropolitan Police said the substance was sprayed when a group of four men stole a woman’s suitcase in a car park lift on Sunday.
Those in the vicinity were affected by the spray with 21 treated for injuries, including five who were taken to hospital.
A 31-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of assault and other people were being searched for, the force added.
The incident – which the Met said was isolated and not treated as terrorism – caused disruption at the airport as trains were delayed and the car park closed.
Police and emergency services were called at 08:11 GMT to the multi-storey car park at Terminal 3.
Cdr Peter Stevens said police believe those directly involved were known to each other, and officers were working “to determine the full circumstances around what happened”. The force earlier said there was an argument that escalated, resulting in people being injured.
Those injured are not believed to be in life-threatening or life-changing conditions. The car park reopened by 11:30 GMT.
Tom Bate was waiting for a lift in the car park when he saw “young men dressed in black darting through the crowd” before going through a side door.
“As soon as they left people started coughing, and then I started to cough,” he told the BBC. “I felt a burning at the back of my throat.”
Driving out of the car park, he said he saw police arriving. “It was an amazing thing to see the police running to danger,” he said. “I’m so glad to hear now that it’s not terrorism because it felt like I was in the middle of an attack – it was pretty intense.”
Social media footage showed a large armed police response, fire engines and an officer appearing to search a handcuffed individual.
Fin Fraser, who flew into Heathrow from the US on Sunday morning, told the BBC he saw “armed police running around and checking people’s vehicles” as he was attempting to leave the car park.
“When they came to ours, they knocked on our window and told us to wind it down and then they looked inside the car.”
Describing it as a “surreal experience,” he added: “It felt like I was in a James Bond movie”.
The Heathrow Express and parts of the Elizabeth Line were suspended on Sunday morning but resumed running later in the day.
Heathrow advised passengers to “allow extra time when travelling to the airport and to check with their airline for any queries”, and use public transport due to congestion on surrounding roads.
Airport staff handed bottles of water to passengers waiting for buses from Terminal 3, where one family told PA news agency they had been waiting at the bus stop for three hours for a shuttle to the long-stay car park. Shuttles usually run every 15 minutes.
Police and Crime Minister Sarah Jones said her thoughts were “with all those affected” and expressed her “heartfelt thanks” to emergency services for their “rapid response”.
@ 2025 BBC
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