Four arrested in London over attack on Emirati women

London police have arrested four people in connection with the attack on three Emirati tourists, The Guardian newspaper reported.

The three UAE sisters were attacked in the middle of the night in their hotel room by a hammer-wielding assailant early on Sunday.

One woman is in critical condition in hospital, while the other two sustained minor injuries.

Three men, aged 56, 34 and 32, were arrested in Islington, north London, a Metropolitan police spokesman was reported as saying, while a woman, 31, was arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods.

The attack took place on the seventh floor of the Cumberland Hotel in London. The intruder is said to have attacked one of the women with a hammer before turning on the others and fleeing the hotel in bloody clothes.

The father of the women told The National he was heartbroken and was praying for their safe return.

“My heart is broken to a million pieces and I can’t do anything except to pray that they return safely,” Jaffar Nasser Al Najjar, 70, said.

The sisters Khuloud, Ohoud and Fatima were holidaying in London with their families.

The UAE ambassador to the United Kingdom told the Abu Dhabi TV: “We got the news at almost two in the morning, and I sent a team from the embassy to get updates and to check the girls’ health.

“This is a bizarre act, it has never occurred to an Emirati family in London before, but it is possible such an accident could occur, of course."

He added that the embassy has provided support to the family.