01 February 2024 , 09:48
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A woman rushed from her block of flats after hearing screaming and helped save a girl, three, as she was "thrown to floor" after a man doused a woman and two children in a corrosive liquid last night.
Shannon Christi, 35, needed hospital treatment after she came into contact with the alkaline substance. Police have branded the scenes in Clapham, south London, "horrific" after they left a mum and her two children injured. They were among the eight victims who needed treatment at hospitals on Wednesday evening, and a further person was treated at the scene.
Shannon, a bus driver, said that her partner chased the thug down the street - wearing slippers. The mum-of-three said: “He dragged her out of the car. I heard a lot of shouting and a bang and I heard screaming. I saw the girl being thrown to the floor, she had been pulled her out and threw her again on the floor. At that point I ran in and grabbed her.
“I heard mum shouting, ‘I can’t see, I can’t see’. I called my partner to get some water. Staff at the hospital came round to help and were dousing her in water. I got it on my lips and at that point my skin started to tingle. Me and the little girl went in to wash my arms, eyes and face.”
The scene following the attack in Clapham (Marcin Nowak/LNP)She added: “I think what happened was that it got in her jacket when she was in the floor and it got on to me. I went to the hospital because my lips just kept burning - they don’t know what the substance was.
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“The youngest girl was three years old. She was just crying. She just kept crying. I tried to talk to her to ask what her name was but the just kept crying. The mum was walking on the street but she couldn’t see anything. Staff from the hotel came out to help.
Forensic officers gather evidence as police guard a cordon (Marcin Nowak/LNP)“The guy ran off towards Balham - my partner chased him half way down the street but he was wearing slippers. The guy was wearing black clothes but I couldn’t focus on what he looked like because I was focusing on the little girl. I’ve never seen them before. I think it was a domestic incident.
“I’m a mother with three children. My youngest is two so I felt like I had to get in and do something. There was another child also who was about eight and she was crying. I told her to come in with us. They took her round the corner to the hotel. I’d step in again if I had to.”