Two bodies discovered in River Thames ‘not linked to’ Abdul Ezedi as hunt for Clapham attacker continues
TWO bodies discovered in the River Thames are “not linked” to Abdul Ezedi – as the hunt for the Clapham attacker continues.
Cops believe Ezedi, 35, jumped off Chelsea Bridge after dousing a mum and her young daughters with a corrosive alkaline substance.
He was last seen on the bridge at 11.27pm on January 31 – four hours after the attack.
Boats from the Marine Policing Unit have today been scouring the Thames for Ezedi’s body.
Scotland Yard said two male bodies have been found – but neither is Ezedi’s.
The first body was found near HMS Belfast at 10.13am, and the other was found downstream near Limehouse in east London at 10.39am.
Cops are now working to identify both bodies so they can inform next of kin.
Both of the men’s deaths are being treated as unexpected, a spokesperson added.
The Met Police said that Ezedi’s body may never surface from the fast-flowing Thames.
Commander Jon Savell said: “We have looked at all of the available cameras and angles, and CCTV from buses.
“There is no sighting of him coming off the bridge.”
Officers have been in contact with Ezedi’s family to “break the news” to them.
Det Supt Rick Sewart said death was the “most probable outcome” if Ezedi had gone into the water.
Change in ‘demeanour’
The Metropolitan Police said Clapham alkali attack suspect Ezedi’s “demeanour” appeared to change as he walked over Chelsea Bridge.
Savell added: “When he gets to Chelsea Bridge, his demeanour appears to change.
“I would describe him previously as walking sort of purposefully, as if he knew where he was going and he was walking at a reasonable pace.
“As he gets onto Chelsea Bridge, he does cross the bridge more than once.
“And then when he gets back to the centre, he appears to be moving from the railings back to the pavement and looking over the edge of the railings.
“So a distinct change in how he’s been moving about.”
Two minutes later he was seen again on camera heading back to the north side of Chelsea Bridge.
It comes after cops said they thought Ezedi was “being helped by others” to evade capture and that their inquiries were targeting “more of Ezedi’s associates”.
Manhunt cops arrested and bailed a man on suspicion of assisting an offender.
Chemical attack
Ezedi suffered a hideous wound to the right side of his face apparently sustained during the attack at 7.25pm.
He arranged to meet the 31-year-old woman after she had ended a relationship with him and drove down to London from his Newcastle home in a white Hyundai car.
When the woman and her children got into his car he flung a flask of the alkaline in her face causing horrific facial injuries.
She and her oldest daughter escaped from the vehicle and Ezedi then drove at her and crashed his car.
Ezedi fled on foot and took a tube from Clapham South to King’s Cross, North London, before heading back south again.
He got off at Tower Hill and CCTV showed him walking west by Southwark Bridge and on to Blackfriars where he was seen outside a Unilever building at 10.04pm.
He carried on walking west, his route hugging the Thames and he passed yards from New Scotland Yard before crossing over Westminster Bridge.
Horror injuries
Manhunt specialists from the Met’s counter terrorism fugitive teams then placed him 59 minutes later from CCTV on the north side of Vauxhall Bridge.
From there he continued walking west to Chelsea Bridge, where he is now thought to have jumped into the dark tidal waters.
At a news briefing on Wednesday Commander Savell said: “It is a possibility he has gone into the Thames.
“Sadly, we recover people from the Thames and it takes a while for it to happen.
“It is a very fast-flowing body of water. Nobody has seen anyone going into the Thames and no bodies have been recovered.”
He added that police were considering whether Ezedi ended up in the river “either deliberately or accidentally.”
Meanwhile, the mother wounded in the chemical attack remains in a “critical but stable” condition in hospital.
She has suffered life-changing injuries and doctors have said she may lose her right eye.
Her young daughters were also injured in the attack and are making progress.