By Peter Allen and Rod Ardehali, The DailyMail .com
A woman with ‘deep psychological problems’ was in custody in the French city of Marseille Sunday after spraying four American tourists with acid and burning two in the face.
The horrifying attack took place shortly after 11am at the Gare de Marseille-Saint-Charles station, where the party from the US was preparing to board a train.
The 41-year-old attacker used a cleaning substance containing hydrochloric acid that she is thought to have picked up from a local DIY store.
(The horrifying attack took place shortly after 11am at the Gare de Marseille-Saint-Charles station. Courtesy of Wochit News and YouTube)
After carrying out the assault, the woman displayed photos of her own burns, allegedly picked up in an earlier incident.
‘Two American women aged 20 were hit in the face, while the other two were sprayed in the legs, and were mainly suffering from shock,’ said a source close to the case.
‘The two with facial injuries were taken to hospital, while the others were treated at the scene. They were also aged 20 or 21. The attacker wanted to show off photographs of her own injuries.
‘She was arrested at the scene and faces charges. She displayed clear signs of suffering from deep psychological problems.’
According to witnesses, no slogans were shouted out during the attack, and it was not thought to be terrorist related.
Prosecutors have opened a criminal enquiry, while none of those involved have yet been named.
A spokeswoman for the prosecutor office said two of the tourists have been injured in the face and one of them has a possible eye injury.
She said all four of the tourists have been hospitalized, two of them for shock.
The Americans were thought to be on their way from the southern Mediterranean city to Paris.
Four emergency services vehicles arrived at the station, which was packed on a Sunday morning at the tail-end of the holiday season.
Paris remains under a State of Emergency following a string of terrorist attacks carried out by Islamic State and Al-Qaeda operatives over the past two years.
Security at transport hubs including rail stations has been massively stepped up because of threats by the groups to target them.
Corrosive substances are increasingly being used as weapons in Europe, including in Britain, where there were 450 such attacks in London alone in last year.
Acid-based products are easy to purchase, and can be paid for in cash, so there is no trace of who bought them.
Original post http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4892572/Two-American-tourists-suffer-acid-attack-Marseille.html
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(WARNING: Graphic Content. Courtesy of VICE and YouTube. Posted on Jul 17, 2017)
*Since 2010 there have been 1,800 reported acid attacks in the London, with a steep 70% rise between 2015 to 2016.
As the number of victims grows, data suggests Britain has the worst record in the developed world for assaults with household acids like bleach and drain cleaner.
Only a quarter of recorded attacks have lead to charges being brought, for fear of a repeated attack or a lack of trail for police to pinpoint attackers.
*Courtesy of Vice
