London: Manhunt launched after acid sprayed into crowd injuring 12

A manhunt has been launched for an attacker who police say sprayed acid into a packed east London nightclub, leaving two in a serious condition in hospital.

The incident in London Fields, east London, forced the evacuation of the venue where around 600 clubbers had been at an event. In a statement released on Monday afternoon, the Met said the "acidic" substance, which has yet to be identified, was used following a dispute between two groups of people inside the venue.

Twelve people were injured when a corrosive substance was sprayed inside a packed London nightclub, police and fire services said, amid a sharp rise in acid attacks in Britain's capital. Two of the victims, both men in their twenties, are in a "serious but stable condition" and 10 others suffered "minor injuries", police said in a statement.

A London Fire Brigade spokesman told news agency AFP an 'unknown corrosive substance' was thrown in Mangle, a club in east London, in the early hours of Monday.

Police said the incident was not believed to be terrorism or gang related but the result of a dispute between two groups of people in the club. They said the fight led to "a noxious substance being sprayed by a male suspect directly at Victims 1 and 2" - the two men with the more serious injuries. "Other people inside the venue suffered the effects of the substance," the statement said, adding that no arrests have been made yet.