Alwaght- An acid Attack on a packed night club in London has left at least twelve people injured on Monday, with two being in serious condition.
Police have launched a manhunt for the attacker who police say sprayed acid into Mangle nightclub in east London, forcing the evacuation of the venue where around 600 clubbers had been at.
Two of the victims, both men in their twenties, are in a “serious but stable condition” and 10 others suffered “minor injuries”, police said in a statement.
A London Fire Brigade spokesman told news agency AFP an ‘unknown corrosive substance’ was thrown in club in the early hours of Monday.
Mangle E8 nightclub in London
It was identified as ‘an acidic substance’ from testing, he said, adding that there were around 600 people in the club at the time.
Police said the incident was not believed to be terrorism or gang related but the result of a dispute between two groups of people in the club.
The two victims, both men aged in their 20s, are in a serious but stable condition in hospital.
A further 10 people were treated in hospital for their injuries.
London has seen a sharp rise in acid attacks in London in recent years.
There were more than 1,800 reports of attacks involving corrosive fluids in London since 2010, according to police data cited by the BBC last month.
In 2016, corrosive fluids were used in 454 crimes, compared to 261 in 2015.
Some experts have suggested that criminal gangs may be switching from carrying knives to acid because it could lower the risk of prosecution.
