CHEMICAL fugitive Abdul Ezedi may have thrown himself off Chelsea Bridge and drowned in the River Thames, it is now believed.
The 35-year-old Afghan refugee has not been seen since the night he allegedly doused a mum and her daughters with a searing corrosive fluid.
It is understood cops believe Abdul Ezedi has drowned
The suspect was seen with a melted face shortly after the attack
The last sighting was on Chelsea Bridge just before 11.30pm
He was last spotted on CCTV close to the bridge just before 11.30pm last Wednesday, four hours after the attack in Clapham, South West London.
Sun Online understands detectives now believe Ezedi perished in the river soon afterwards.
One source said: “The investigation team believe Ezedi died soon after the last sighting of him on camera on the north side of the river.”
Ezedi crossed over the bridge twice, initially walking south and entering Battersea Park at 11.25pm.
Two minutes later he was seen again on camera heading back to the north side of Chelsea Bridge, in West London.
The conclusion said to have been reached by detectives suggests there are no further sightings of Ezedi.
He suffered a hideous wound to the right side of his face apparently sustained during the attack at 7.25pm.
He arranged to meet the 31-year-old woman after she had ended a relationship with him and drove down to London from his Newcastle home in a white Hyundai car.
When the woman and her children got into his car he flung a flask of the alkaline in her face causing horrific facial injuries.
She and her oldest daughter escaped from the vehicle and Ezedi then drove at her and crashed his car.
Ezedi fled on foot and took a tube from Clapham South to King’s Cross, North London, before heading back south again.
He got off at Tower Hill and CCTV showed him walking west by Southwark Bridge and on to Blackfriars where he was seen outside a Unilever building at 10.04pm.
He carried on walking west, his route hugging the Thames and he passed yards from New Scotland Yard before crossing over Westminster Bridge.
Manhunt specialists from the Met’s counter terrorism fugitive teams then placed him 59 minutes later from CCTV on the north side of Vauxhall Bridge.
From there he continued walking west to Chelsea Bridge, where he is now thought to have jumped into the dark tidal waters.
At a news briefing on Wednesday Commander Savell said: “It is a possibility he has gone into the Thames.
“Sadly, we recover people from the Thames and it takes a while for it to happen.
“It is a very fast-flowing body of water. Nobody has seen anyone going into the Thames and no bodies have been recovered.”
He added that police were considering whether Ezedi ended up in the river “either deliberately or accidentally.”
An update on the investigation is expected from the Met Police today.
Meanwhile, the mother wounded in the chemical attack remains in a “critical but stable” condition in hospital.
She has suffered life-changing injuries and doctors have said she may lose her right eye.
Her young daughters were also injured in the attack and are making progress.
The hunt has reached its ninth day Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
