![\"Fire](\"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/12\/768x432\/skynews-london-heathrow-airport_7103444.jpg?20251207101749\")
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Met Police Commander Peter Stevens said on Sunday afternoon that the force believes “a woman was robbed of her suitcase by a group of four men, who sprayed a substance believed to be pepper spray in her direction”.<\/p>\n
“This occurred within a car park lift, with those in the lift and surrounding area affected by the spray,” he continued.<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
London Ambulance Service attended the scene and treated 21 people, including a three-year-old girl. Five people were taken to hospital. Their injuries are not believed to be life-changing or life-threatening.<\/p>\n
There was some disruption to traffic in the area and Terminal 3 remains open.<\/p>\n
Eyewitness describes ‘absolutely terrifying’ ordeal<\/strong><\/p>\n Witness Tom Bate told Sky’s\u00a0Matt Barbet<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0that he saw three “young men, dressed in black with their heads covered” suddenly bolt from the elevator area.<\/p>\n That’s when “people started coughing”, he said. “Suddenly… everyone in the room was coughing, including me, and there was a burning in my throat.<\/p>\n “It was one of the weirdest things I’ve ever experienced.”<\/p>\n Mr Bate was in the multi-storey car park at Terminal 3, having just landed from Dallas, Texas.<\/p>\n As he was leaving the car park, he saw “10-20 armed police officers” run in.<\/p>\n “The [police] did, in fact, point their gun at someone and order him to the ground and detain him,” he said. “And they got me out of the vehicle to ID the person.”<\/p>\n Mr Bate described the incident as “pretty intense” and “absolutely terrifying”.<\/p>\n ‘Significant incident’<\/strong><\/p>\n The London Ambulance Service said a “significant incident” was declared and there was a “full deployment” of resources. A London Fire Brigade spokesperson said it was also called to the incident.<\/p>\n Heathrow advised passengers to allow extra time when travelling to the airport and to check with their airline for any queries.<\/p>\n Some passengers said they were forced to wait three hours for a shuttle bus to the long-stay car park after their flight. The service usually runs every 15 minutes.<\/p>\n Bottles of water were handed out by staff to people waiting for buses from Terminal 3.<\/p>\n There was disruption to train and Tube services, with some delays on the Elizabeth Line and the Piccadilly Line, but all lines are now operating normally.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Traffic also piled up at the M4 junction for the airport but this has since cleared.<\/p>\n People on social media said vehicles were being searched at the airport.<\/p>\n A user on X said there was a “major backlog of cars unable to leave the vicinity or enter the drop-off zone” at Terminal 3.<\/p>\n In footage on X, several armed police were seen in a car park.<\/p>\n Source: \u00a0![\"A](\"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/12\/768x432\/skynews-heathrow-queues_7103883.jpg?20251207155200\")
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<\/a> news.sky.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"