A body has been found in the River Thames by police searching for the Clapham chemical attack suspect Abdul Ezedi, almost three weeks after a major manhunt was launched.
The Metropolitan Police said it “strongly believes” the body pulled from the water in central London on Monday is Ezedi’s, although formal visual identification is impossible after weeks spent dragged by the strong current of the Thames.
The body was recovered by the Met’s Marine Policing Unit after the crew of a passing boat reported they had seen a body in the water at Tower Pier in Tower Hill at around 4pm.
A major manhunt was launched when the 35-year-old, from the Newcastle area, went on the run, after allegedly pouring a strong, corrosive, alkaline substance on a 31-year-old woman and her two young daughters in Clapham, south London on 31 January.
Following days of searching, the Metropolitan Police announced that its main working hypothesis was that Ezedi had “gone into” the river after being seen on CCTV leaning over the railings of Chelsea Bridge in west London on the night of the attack.
The manhunt subsequently focused on an area of the Thames between Vauxhall and Chelsea bridges, with a circling police boat flashing lights and pausing beside a small ship before moving off again. Despite the poor visibility caused by the weather, a crowd gathered to watch the operation.
Ezedi is a convicted sex offender who was granted asylum in the UK on his third attempt after converting to Christianity.
As passersby tried to intervene, a total of 12 people were injured in the attack on Lessar Avenue at around 7.25pm, during which Ezedi was alleged to have thrown one of the children to the ground. He crashed into a stationary vehicle while attempting to drive away from the scene, before fleeing on foot.
Police previously said the last confirmed sighting was a few hours after the attack, just before 11.30pm, as he crossed over Chelsea Bridge and entered Battersea Park in central London, then crossed back over the same bridge minutes later.
The woman remains in hospital but in a stable condition, having endured significant facial injuries.She is Ezedi’s ex-partner, with the breakdown of the relationship considered a possible motive for the attack. Her two daughters, aged eight and three, who are not Ezedi’s children, have been discharged from hospital.
Ezedi suffered significant facial injuries in the incident, which police previously said could have proved fatal if left untreated.
In their search for him, officers raided two addresses linked to Ezedi in Newcastle in the early hours of Thursday. The force had also offered a £20,000 reward for anyone with information about Ezedi’s whereabouts. They previously said they believed that Ezedi had come to harm or was being hidden by someone.
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