Delhaize increases security after acid attack

A man threw acid in the face of a cleaning woman at a Delhaize store in Antwerp last Friday morning. The assailant is still at large, but police have issued a description and photos taken from security camera footage (pictured).

The attack happened in the Antwerp Zuid branch in Museumstraat. The worker was heading in to work at about 7.30 before opening hours. She was rushed to hospital suffering from severe burns to the face, neck and arm.

The victim is 52 years old and comes from Westerlo in Antwerp province. She worked for a company that was contracted by Delhaize to clean the store. She remains in hospital today, but her life is no longer in danger.

It was revealed at the weekend that Delhaize and news agency Belga had received emails last December warning of acid attacks on customers. Written in English, the first mail referred to “the social and financial costs if five people were to have sulphuric acid thrown in their faces”. A later mail from the same address specified three victims, “a woman and two children” in Charleroi.

Belga passed the mails on to the federal prosecutor’s office. According to De Morgen, police knew who he was and tried several times to arrange a meeting between him and Delhaize. The plan was to arrest the man, but he failed to turn up each time.

Prosecutors in Antwerp and Brussels, where an investigation was under way, have refused to comment on the situation since the attack on Friday. Delhaize has implemented additional security measures at stores, including placing security guards outside.

The attacker is said to be known to police. He is described as a white male aged 40 to 50 with short brown hair. Tips can be called in to the toll-free number 0800 30 3000800 30 300 or to any police station.

images courtesy Belga