‘Acidic substance’ sprayed in Dalston bar Mangle E8 burns clubbers

At least 12 people suffered burns after a "strong acidic substance" was sprayed in a bar in east London.

Two of the injured are in a serious but stable condition in hospital.

Police believe the "noxious substance" was sprayed directly into the faces of the two men after an argument broke out in Mangle E8 in Dalston in the early hours of Monday.

The suspected attacker has not been caught, police said.

A witness said they had seen a group of women pouring water on others who were apparently injured.

"In the party in the basement there were girls making noise, I saw their friends ordering a bottle of water – they were putting it on them, they were splashing it on their faces," the witness, who asked not to be named, said.

"It was like a war – the police were everywhere.

"I just saw a lot of people complaining, there were a lot of staff around, someone had called the police and a lot of people were crying."

About 600 people had been at the late night event and about 400 were still in the building – between Sidworth Street and Warburton Road – at the time.

A London Fire Brigade spokeswoman said: "The only information that we have is that it was an unknown corrosive substance thrown within the nightclub.

"It was identified by a PH paper test as a strong acidic substance."

A journalist who was in the area at the time, Phie McKenzie, tweeted: "Scary scenes in Hackney tonight, we have heard reports of chemical burns of people in the building here".

She posted a picture showing several firefighters waiting outside the building.

The suspected acid attack comes just over a week after a three members of a family had a strong acid was thrown on them in nearby Islington, north London.

There have been no arrests so far over the assault on 8 April, which injured the father, mother and their two-year-old son.

(c) Sky News 2017: ‘Acidic substance’ sprayed in Dalston bar Mangle E8 burns clubbers