UPDATE: A 33-year-old man has been arrested in connection with incident on suspicion of “assault occasioning ABH and using threatening / abusive words / behaviour or disorderly behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress”. He was bailed until November 14.
Footage has captured the moment a woman chased a man down a train platform after he punched a fellow commuter in the face in a suspected “racist” attack.
During the incident at Upton Park Tube station a white, bald man is seen walking over to a man and woman sitting next to each other.
He then says something inaudible to the seated man before throwing a right hook.
Although the exchange between the men cannot clearly be heard, the sound of the punch can be.
The woman then yells something at the assailant before chasing him down the platform.
The footage was shared online on Wednesday, although it is not clear exactly when the assault took place.
The attack has been called “racist” on social media and by Miqdaad Versi, assistant secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, but it is not known what motivated the assault.
British Transport Police (BTP) is investigating the attack but would not confirm whether they were treating it as a racist assault.
But responding to the video shared online, a tweet sent from the BTP Victoria line account used the hashtag ‘stop hate crime’.
British Transport Police said in a statement: “I can confirm that we are investigating an assault after this video was brought to our attention.
“The incident is believed to have happened on a tube at Upton Park Tube station.
“If anyone has any information about the incident, please contact us via 0800405040 quoting ref 554 18/10/16.”
Race or religious hate crime rose by 41% in the month following Britain’s vote to leave the European Union.
More than 300 hate crime incidents were reported to a national online portal in the week following the vote - compared to a weekly average of 63, figures from the National Police Chiefs’ Council showed.