Two bodies found in search for suspect Ezedi as officers return to Thames

Police are due to resume their search for Abdul Ezedi in the River Thames this morning as officers believe he fell into the water from Chelsea Bridge.

Search boats were spotted between Vauxhall and Chelsea bridges on Saturday morning. He was last seen on CCTV pacing up and down Chelsea Bridge and leaning over the railings four hours after the attack on January 31.

A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said: “There will be police boat searches on the river at low tide this morning – from approximately 10:00hrs around Chelsea Bridge and the surrounding stretch of the river.”

Two bodies were found in the River Thames yesterday as the search for Abdul Ezedi in the water continues.

One body was recovered near HMS Belfast just after 10am and another was found around 30 minutes later along the river in Limehouse.

Officers said neither discoveries are linked to Ezedi and the force is working to confirm the identities of the bodies and inform next of kin.

Both deaths are being treated as unexpected.

Police are scouring the Thames to find the body of the man suspected of carrying out a chemical attack on a mother in Clapham.

Search boats were spotted between Vauxhall and Chelsea bridges on Saturday morning, one day after the Metropolitan Police revealed their belief that Abdul Ezedi may have jumped or fallen from Chelsea Bridge.

He was last seen on CCTV pacing up and down the bridge and leaning over the railings four hours after the attack on January 31.

There have been reports of two separate bodies found in the river yesterday – but neither are believed to be connected to Ezedi and searches are expected to continue today.

There has been no update from the Met Police this evening despite officers carrying out a search of the River Thames earlier on Saturday.

A police boat circled between Vauxhall and Chelsea bridges, 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.

Detectives believe Ezedi may have gone into the river after being seen on CCTV leaning over the railings of Chelsea Bridge in west London on the night a woman and two young girls were attacked with a corrosive substance in Clapham, south London.

The force said on Friday its main working hypothesis was the 35-year-old had “gone into” the Thames.

However, police admit that Ezedi’s body may never be found due to the speed of the current in the river.

The Metropolitan Police said Clapham alkali attack suspect Abdul Ezedi was seen to “lean over the railings” of Chelsea Bridge before CCTV sightings of him ceased.

In a briefing at Scotland Yard, Detective Superintendent Rick Sewart said: “We’ve tracked Ezedi’s movements from the Tower Hill area where he alighted the underground and he’s walked over four miles to the location of Chelsea Bridge.

“He’s walked with purpose, but has essentially hugged the Thames River line.

“When he has got to the area of Chelsea Bridge, his behaviour visibly appears to change in so much as he walked up and down the bridge – he pauses in the midpoint of the bridge, halfway down the bridge.

“Then he walked to and from the side of the bridge and can be seen to sort of lean over the railings before there is a loss of sight.”

Mr Sewart added that this was consistent with “him going into the water”.

The suspect in a chemical attack that left a mother fighting for life appears to have walked right past New Scotland Yard hours later.

Based on CCTV movements released by the force, Abdul Ezedi walked beside the River Thames on a route that looks to have taken him within yards of the Met’s headquarters on the Embankment in central London.

A major manhunt is still underway for the fugitive, with the police now searching in the River Thames after the last CCTV footage of him shows Ezedi pacing up and down Chelsea Bridge at 11:30pm.

Police confirmed Ezedi was in a relationship with the 31-year-old victim and speculated the attack might have been motivated by a breakdown in their relationship.

He is not the father of the children in the attack and was in the capital visiting the mother, police believe. Friends of the victim described her as a “devoted and loving mother”.

Close friends of the victim, who have launched a fundraiser for the family, said: “Our friend is first and foremost a devoted and loving mother.

“Her children are her life. She is generous to a fault and a wonderful cook and host. All she has ever wanted is a safe home for her and her beautiful, kind little girls.”

Friends of the woman left severely injured after being doused with a corrosive substance in south London have described her as “a devoted and loving mother”.

The 31-year-old woman may lose the sight in her right eye and remains sedated in hospital after her former partner Abdul Ezedi is suspected of pouring a strong alkali on the woman last Wednesday.

She is still too ill to speak to police and her injuries were so severe the incident is being treated as attempted murder.

In a statement released to the PA news agency, close friends of the victim, who have launched a fundraiser for the family, said: “Our friend is first and foremost a devoted and loving mother.

“Her children are her life. She is generous to a fault and a wonderful cook and host. All she has ever wanted is a safe home for her and her beautiful, kind little girls.”

Ezedi came to the UK hidden in a lorry in 2016, and was turned down twice for asylum before successfully appealing against the Home Office rejection by claiming he had converted to Christianity.

He was convicted of two sexual offences in 2018 but was allowed to stay in the UK because his crimes were not serious enough to meet the threshold for deportation.

A tribunal judge is understood to have ruled in favour of his asylum claim in 2020 after a retired Baptist church minister confirmed he had converted to Christianity, reportedly describing Ezedi as “wholly committed” to his new religion.

On Wednesday, a Baptist church in Tyne and Wear confirmed it was aware of a “connection” it had with the suspect.