A Middle Eastern restaurant in London keeps getting attacked by a stinking substance that causes nausea and vomiting
Metropolitan Police
A Middle Eastern restaurant near the famous London department store Harrods has been hit three times by people throwing a foul-smelling substance at it, according to the police.
Dozens of people were evacuated on the first occasion, while the second incident saw numerous people vomiting and taken to the hospital.
Surveillance footage released by the police of the third incident shows a man using a syringe-like object to spray a substance at the front of the restaurant.
A Middle Eastern restaurant in an upscale part of London has been hit three times in a few months with a foul-smelling liquid that has caused vomiting and resulted in dozens of people being evacuated.
Footage of the latest incident, released by London's Metropolitan Police, shows a man spraying the front of the restaurant on February 25 with an object that looks like a syringe.
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The family-run business is located on Knightsbridge's Brompton Road, near the famed department store Harrods. The business is in "great distress" over the attacks, according to the police, which declined to name the restaurant.
The substance, which has a "very strong, foul scent," was also used in two prior attacks, according to the police.
While they are still verifying what was used in the latest attack, the police believe it to be a form of food preservative.
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The first incident took place October 30, when the fire service was called to reports of a chemical smell coming from the basement bathroom of the restaurant. The police have released images of men they are seeking over the incident.
That time, chemical analysis found traces of a mild acid, which they said had a pH of 2, similar in strength to lemon juice. But 15 staff members and 27 others were evacuated as a precaution, the fire service said.
Then, on February 19, an unidentified smell was again reported as coming from the basement, according to the fire service.
The police said the substance caused vomiting and nausea in several people, who were taken to the hospital, though "no serious harm" was done, according to the investigating officer Detective Constable Danielle Sapsford.
Metropolitan Police
Sapsford said in a statement that while the police hadn't decided on a motive, the attacks must have been deliberate.
"This has caused great distress to the owner and we want to bring this to an end," she said. "The most recent incident took place on a day when the owners expected the restaurant to be very busy."
She also said: "At this time, we cannot say if we are looking for one, two, or more suspects, so are exploring a number of possibilities around this."
Metropolitan Police
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