LONDON — A London man may never see again following an anti-gay attack outside a London club on Sunday.
London police are looking for one man and two women in connection with a chemical attack on three men in the Vauxhall area, London’s gay district, early on Sunday.
According to The Evening Standard, the man threw what is believed to be a concentrated ammonia solution into the faces of his victims as the women shouted homophobic slurs.
The 23-year-old victim said that he and his 21-year-old male friend stuck up a conversation with the two women, described as Eastern European, outside the Lightbox club after being refused admittance since it was past closing time.
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The victim, who has not been identified, said that once the women discovered the two were gay, they started shouting anti-gay slurs.
“As we walked away I heard a man shout ‘Oi! Come here.,’” the victim recalled. “At first I thought it was the doorman saying he’d changed his mind and we could go in.”
“Then I saw this white guy with a beard, and his hand coming up with a water bottle that he squirted really hard into my face. It went right in my eyes and it sprayed into my friend’s mouth,” he said.
“My face was burning so much, I thought it was acid. I thought I would never see again and my face was melting.
“He poured every last drop onto us and then turned around and walked away, like it was mission accomplished.
“The chemical burnt the cornea in my left eye and the vision hasn’t cleared since. The doctors said it should hopefully return but there is no guarantee.
“My friend’s tongue was swollen and it looked like someone had scratched part of it away. It was horrible.”
Doctors told the victim that there is a chance he may never recover fully his eyesight, as his left eye cornea has suffered severe burning.
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Police suspect that the same man is responsible for both incidents.
A statement of the Scotland Yard said, “Following comments made during the exchange, this incident is being treated as a homophobic hate crime.”
In an appeal for more information and witnesses, London’s police have released CCTV images of the women and the man who are suspected in connection with the chemical attack.
