Dubai: Detectives in London continue to appeal for information following an attack on three Emirati women at a central London hotel in the early hours of Sunday.
Scotland Yard believes that a single male suspect entered a guest bedroom on the seventh floor of the Cumberland Hotel at Marble Arch, where three women, in their thirties, and three children were sleeping in adjoining rooms.
Abdul Rahman Ghanem Al Mutaiwee, UAE Ambassador to the UK, told Gulf News on Tuesday that the hammer used in the attack was found dumped in a rubbish bin on the same floor.
“Eyewitnesses and CCTV showed that the attacker was black, and was not wearing a mask so his face was clearly seen. Police are talking with the victim who was able to defend herself, and left marks on the attacker’s body,” Al Mutaiwee said.
“The embassy is doing its utmost to provide the family with assistance at this difficult time, and have staff at the hospital, as well as others to accompany family members.”
Hotel guests have described horrifying scenes following the attack with one man revealing how he saw a woman in blood stained pyjamas screaming “He attacked me, he attacked me” as she ran down the corridor.
Faleh Al Rashidi, a media executive from Kuwait who is staying at The Cumberland hotel on his honeymoon, said the woman screamed before collapsing in the corridor outside his room.
The 28-year-old said the woman was dressed in black pyjama bottoms and a light blue dress spattered with blood.
Al Rashidi said: “I think she had run down from the seventh floor. We were staying on the first floor.”
“She was screaming so loudly ‘he attacked me, he attacked me, help me, help me’ then she fell in the floor and a man came to help her.
“She was wearing black pyjama bottoms and a light blue dress on top which had blood on it.”
And Scotland Yard say that because of viciousness of the attack, witnesses must have seen a blood-covered man leaving the scene of the crime.
Detectives believe the suspect was disturbed when some of the occupants of the room woke up, and the three women were subsequently assaulted with a hammer which was later recovered at the scene.
Uhoud, 34, remains in a critical but stable condition at a central London hospital. Kholoud, 36 and Fatima, 31, sustained serious injuries but their conditions are not life-threatening.
“This is an exceptionally unusual and rare incident to have taken place in a busy London hotel and we are currently working around the clock to identify and secure CCTV as well as forensic evidence opportunities,” Detective Superintendent Carl Mehta of Homicide and Major Crime Command said.
"We also understand hotel room security was not breached and the door to the family’s room was unlocked at the time of the incident,” Metha said: “We are working closely with the family and the hotel to explore this further.”
Officials at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, London declined to comment on the condition of the three women.
With inputs from agencies
