Heathrow Airport, London: Man arrested after pepper spray attack, suitcase robbery in Terminal 3 car park

A man has been arrested following a pepper spray attack that left several people injured at London’s Heathrow Airport.

Police were called to a multi-storey car park at Terminal 3 at 8.11pm on Sunday (local time) after reports of multiple assaults.

According to the Metropolitan Police, a woman was robbed of her suitcase by a group of four men inside a lift, where she was allegedly sprayed with pepper spray.

Ambulance crews treated 21 people who were affected by the spray, including a three-year-old girl, and five were taken to hospital, although their injuries were not believed to be serious, authorities said.

“Armed officers responded to the incident and arrested a 31-year-old man on suspicion of assault, within nine minutes of the report coming in,” a statement from the Metropolitan Police read.

“He remains in custody and enquiries remain ongoing to locate further suspects.

“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.”

The dramatic scenes have circulated on social media.

The incident caused several hours of delays for passengers using the terminal, which is used by Qantas.

In a statement on X, Heathrow Airport said its teams were also responding to the incident, with passengers advised to allow extra time when travelling to the airport and to check with their airline for any queries.

Witness Tom Bate told the BBC he had been waiting to be picked up from the car park when he saw “young men dressed in black darting through the crowd”.

He said he felt a burning at the back of his throat after they left, with other people nearby beginning to cough.

A major manhunt is now underway to search for the remaining suspects.

- With AP, PA