The attack focused around the 1970s shopping mall, the Stratford Centre, which is next to the bus station and a walk through to the Tube station.

Witnesses at the scene said an argument broke out among a group of people.

A man who gave his name as Hossen, 28, a Burger King assistant manager, said he saw a victim and his friend, a known local homeless man, run into the fast food outlet bathroom "to wash acid off his face".</s>At least six people have been injured in a massive acid attack after a gang of men sprayed a noxious substance into crowds near a shopping centre.

Police rushed to the Stratford Shopping Centre in east London at 8pm and treated the injured in the next door tube station.

Dramatic video and images shared on social media appeared to show police attending to victims at Stratford tube station just yards from the shopping centre.

Eyewitnesses described the panic in the moments after the mass attack as 'a lot of police, a lot of fire engines and a lot of ambulances' arrived at the scene to treat the injured.

So far one man has been arrested on suspicion of GHB. The incident is not being treated as a terror attack, a police spokesperson confirmed.

The Metropolitan Police said: 'Police were called just before 8pm to the area around Stratford Shopping Centre to reports of a group of males spraying what is believed to be a noxious substance.

'A number of people have been reported injured at different locations - believed to be six people. We await further details.

'One male has been arrested on suspicion of GBH. Officers remain on scene. A cordon is in place. Enquiries continue.'

There were no reports of injuries from the Westfield shopping centre which is 200 yards from the Stratford shopping centre.

Nate Higgins, who saw the emergency services arriving at the scene, told MailOnline: 'There were a lot of police, a lot of fire engines and a lot of ambulances.

'As I was leaving there were still more and more coming down the road. I was in the shopping centre when it happened and as I was coming out I saw them all arriving.

RECENT CHANGES TO LAWS ON ACID Anyone caught carrying acid will now be charged with carrying an offensive weapon - the same charge used to convict people unlawfully carrying a knife or a gun. This gives the courts the power to sentence defendants up to four years in prison - even if the acid hasn't been thrown or used as a part of a crime. The changes mean anyone now arrested for throwing acid deliberately - even if not intended to harm - could be sentenced to life imprisonment. The Crown Prosecution Service has tweaked the guidelines to give the judges and magistrates more power to sentence defendants to longer prison terms.

'There were at least 10 different vehicles and it didn't seem to be a settled thing.'

Another witness Harry Green, 19, got off the tube in the moments after the incident.

He told MailOnline he witnessed the 'chaotic aftermath'.

'There were police officers with dogs everywhere, the whole station was at a standstill,' she said.

It was worrying as it was obvious something had just happened. It was just chaos.'

'As we stepped off the tube there were dozens of people giving statements to officers looking distressed as though something had just happened.

'We didn't see anyone injured but there were lots of ambulances on the scene but it seems they were taken away pretty promptly.

'We witnessed the aftermath, the emergency services seemed to have responded very quickly. There was a lot of confusion around, a lot of people didn't know what had happened or why they were stuck in the station.'

Mr Green said it was scary to hear of an attack. He has just moved to the city from Lincoln to begin an apprenticeship.</s>An acid attack spree that injured six and hospitalised three may have been the latest in a series of tit-for-tat revenge attacks between East London gangs.

Schoolboy Corey Junior Davis, 14, who was linked to the Woodrange group, was shot from behind at close range next to a playground in Forest Gate earlier in the month.

Locals believe the shooting was itself a revenge attack arranged by the E6 gang following the stabbing of an 18-year-old during a mass brawl the week before.

Now there are fears the acid attack was payback for the Corey's death, with one shop worker at the Stratford Centre linking the two attacks abd gangs.

A sales assistant called Darren, who had to remove acid from the windows of his shop, told the Mirror: 'Two gangs had an argument and there was a fight which extended out into the middle of the centre.

'Over the last few months there has been a lot of friction between the gangs in East London. These kids were aged about 14, there were others no older than 18.

'A lot of these kids hang around here during the night. There was that shooting a few weeks ago of that boy, it could be revenge for that.'

A 15-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of GBH and remains in custody following the attack.

Chief superintendent Ade Adelekan, borough commander for Newham, said: 'What initially may have been perceived as a number of random attacks has, on closer inspection, been found to be one incident involving two groups of males.

'I recognise the lasting impact on victims of corrosive substance attacks.

'Our response to such attacks is continually improving through training and joint working with partners and we are working with the Home Office to explore possible restrictions around the sale of corrosive substances in conjunction with retailers and manufacturers.'

While a Metropolitan Police spokesman said: 'Whether the attack is linked to the murder of Corey Junior Davis is not something that has been flagged up to us by the officers.

'It is probably too early for us to confirm anything at this point and inquiries into motive are ongoing.'

Six people were injured when the gang of men sprayed a noxious liquid into crowds outside the centre and at a next-door tube station causing widespread panic.

Dramatic video and images shared on social media show police treating victims behind a cordon at Stratford station where a white substance can be seen on the floor.

Witnesses described the panic in the moments after the mass attack as injured people hurried to wash their faces and limbs with water.

Police have ruled out terrorism and arrested one man on suspicion of GBH. Witnesses claimed the substance was thrown by 'young black teenage males' after an argument broke out.</s>Six people were taken to hospital after a group of males reportedly sprayed a noxious substance near a busy shopping centre in east London, London Metropolitan Police said.

“A number of attacks” were reported around the Westfield Shopping Centre, with one male arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm.

Police didn’t reveal details about the victims’ conditions, or the whereabouts of the remaining suspects.

READ MORE: People once used knives, now acid is a weapon of choice in the U.K.

The incident is not being treated as terrorism-related.

Acid attacks have long been a problem in parts of South Asia, but have become increasingly commonplace in London in recent years.

Over 450 such attacks were reported in the British capital in 2016, compared to 261 in 2015 and around 150 in 2012, according to London Metropolitan Police statistics.</s>In the Westfield shopping center in Stratford, east London, police rushed to the scene after reports of groups of brawling males hurling a “noxious substance” at each other.

The substance turned out to be acid, which seems to be part of a growing trend to use the caustic, disfiguring acid as a weapon.

Six people in different locations have sustained injuries from the acid attack. All injuries, according to Chief Superintendent Ade Adelekan, borough commander for Newham, were tied to a single attack.

The London Ambulance Service and the Fire Brigade were both on the scene. The London Ambulance Service says its medics arrived within the first 10 minutes. Six people were treated while three were taken to London hospitals. As of now, a 15-year-old male has been arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm.

England is witnessing a horrifying surge in cases of acid attack. In July, a 15-year-old boy was arrested after a string of acid attacks left five people injured. Moreover, reports revealed that the number of acid attacks until March this year, 504, dwarfed the total number of acid attacks in 2012, which was 183.

Ade Adelekan addressed the situation, saying, “I recognize the lasting impact on victims of corrosive substance attacks. Our response to such attacks is continually improving through training and joint working with partners and we are working with the Home Office to explore possible restrictions around the sale of corrosive substances in conjunction with retailers and manufacturers.”</s>LONDON — The British police are investigating a series of attacks on Saturday by a group of men in East London who apparently sprayed acid on a group of people, injuring six. It was the latest in a series of similar episodes that the police have linked to gang activities in the area.

The police were called to the scene of the attacks at around 8 p.m. Saturday, and they arrested one man on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm, Scotland Yard said. The police are not treating Saturday’s episode as a terrorism-related attack.

Witnesses told the BBC that a fight had broken out between two groups at a shopping mall, and that afterward victims ran to nearby bathrooms to wash a caustic substance off their eyes and face.

East London has been the scene of other such attacks. In August, a man suffered serious injuries and scarring when two men threw acid in his face, reportedly because he refused to buy drugs from them. In July, two teenagers were arrested after carrying out five acid attacks in a little over an hour, in some cases blinding victims astride mopeds and stealing the vehicle. In April, an attack at a nightclub left a dozen people with severe burns to their faces and arms.

The Metropolitan Police reported 455 incidents in 2016 in which a corrosive substance was used, a sharp increase from 265 in 2015 and 174 in 2014. Officials have called for tougher sentences, and restrictions on the sale of sulfuric acid.

Video recorded near the scene on Saturday showed police officers and paramedics gathered around a prone victim, with screens erected to shield them from bystanders.</s>Six people were reportedly injured in “a number of attacks” possibly involving acid near a shopping center in east London on Saturday night, according to Metropolitan Police.

A police spokesman told the Evening Standard that police were called to an area near Stratford shopping center before 8 p.m. local time, responding to reports of “a group of males spraying what is believed to be a noxious substance.”

At least one man has been arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm.

A 28-year-old man who was at the scene of the attack told the Guardian that, after the attack, a victim and his friend ran into a restroom at a fast food restaurant “to wash acid off his face.”

“There were cuts around his eyes and he was trying to chuck water into them,” the witness, who identified himself as Hossen, told the Guardian.

London Ambulance Service officials said they have treated at least five victims and have taken three of them to the hospital.

“We have sent a number of resources to the scene including paramedics in cars, ambulance crews an incident response officer and our Hazardous Area Response Team,” officials said in a statement.

We have treated at least five people and taken three of them to hospital following the incident in #Stratford. We remain on scene. pic.twitter.com/MgF5jgHeYo — London Ambulance (@Ldn_Ambulance) September 23, 2017

Mark White, a correspondent for Sky News U.K., said in a tweet that police told him the “suspected mass acid attack” is not believed to be an act of terrorism.

Witnesses of the attack tweeted photos of emergency responders treating the victims behind privacy screens.</s>London - A suspected acid attack in east London injured six people, police said on Sunday adding that they had arrested a 15-year-old male.

Police were called late on Saturday to the Stratford Centre near London's Olympic Stadium after a noxious substance was sprayed during an argument between two groups of males.

They said the incident was not terror related.

There were 431 acid attacks in London last year, 398 of which were carried out in Stratford's borough of Newham.

Police said "the injuries sustained were not "life-threatening or life-changing".

"We are working with the Home Office to explore possible restrictions around the sale of corrosive substances in conjunction with retailers and manufacturers."

Witnesses told the Press Association that an argument had broken out shortly beforehand.

Burger King employee Hossen, 28, said a local homeless man came into the fast food outlet "to wash acid off his face".</s>Six people were believed to have been injured on Saturday after a group of males reportedly sprayed a noxious substance in a number of attacks in an area around a shopping centre in east London, the police said.

The incident was not being treated as terror-related, a police spokesman said.

The attacks occurred near the Stratford Centre, in Stratford, the police said. Earlier they had said the incident took place around the bigger Westfield shopping centre which is nearby.

"A number of people have been reported injured at different locations — believed to be six people. We await further details," London's Metropolitan Police said in a statement.

One male was arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm, the statement said.

The incident occurred around 1900 GMT, it said.

Photographs posted online showed police officers crouching over an apparent victim of the attack as they treated him.

The number of acid attacks has increased in Britain in recent years, linked to robberies and gang-related violence.

The government said in July it would look at tougher punishments for people who attack others using acid.</s>Six people have been injured in an acid attack at the Stratford Centre shopping mall in east London.

The Metropolitan police arrested a 15-year-old boy at the busy Westfield Stratford Shopping Centre on Saturday night, and have launched a manhunt looking for other suspects.

Three of the victims had to be rushed to hospital after being hit with the substance, during an apparent ‘altercation’ between two groups of males.

Horrified onlookers reported scenes of panic in the aftermath of the incident, which was first feared to be a series of random attacks.

One witness described seeing a young male victim screaming in pain as his friends shouted ‘it’s an acid attack, he’s burning!’, while others rushed to wash the substance from their skin.

The teenager was arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm.

Scotland Yard said the altercation happened just before 8pm on Saturday evening: ‘During this incident a noxious substance was thrown. When the liquid was thrown, both groups ran from the scene.’

Witness Imran Tahir Rizvi said he overheard the friends of one victim, aged 18 or 19, shouting about an ‘acid attack’, then saw a young man lying on the floor screaming of a burning pain.

‘[They were] screaming and shouting for help as he was feeling a burning sensation on his skin,’ he said. ‘His fellows were shouting at police for something. Initially people thought like it was a fight. But the guys (with) the victim started shouting “it’s an acid attack, he’s burning”.’

He also shot a video, which showed a man sitting on the station floor ‘crying [and] shouting in pain’ while surrounded by paramedics.

A Burger King assistant manager who gave his name as Hossen, 28, said that he saw a victim and his friend, a known local homeless man, run in to the restaurant’s bathroom ‘to wash acid off his face’.

‘There were cuts around his eyes and he wa strying to chuck water into them,’ he said.

Members of the London Ambulance Service (LAS) hazardous area response team raced to the scene after the alarm was raised.

Paul Gibson, assistant director of operations for LAS, said teams arrived within 10 minutes of the first emergency call and provided first aid with help from the police and London Fire Brigade.

‘We treated six patients in total and took three to London hospitals,’ he said.

Scotland Yard said all the victims were male and inquiries are ongoing into the incident.

Ch Sup Ade Adelekan, Newham borough commander, said: ‘I would like to be very clear concerning this incident. What initially may have been perceived as a number of random attacks has, on closer inspection, been found to be one incident involving two groups of males.’
Acid attacks around a mall and tube station in Stratford, East London, leaves 6 injured. A 15-year-old has been arrested.