Terror at Elrow festival as 'tear gas' is sprayed on crowd - leaving revellers to flee in fear while coughing and struggling to breathe

Revellers were left fighting to breathe and fleeing in panic when a 'mystery substance' was thrown over them at yesterday's Elrow Festival in London.

The incident happened between 8pm and 9pm in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in east London, during Jamie Jones' DJ set - and sparked so much panic that one festival-goer locked herself in a portaloo fearing a bomb had gone off.

According to ticket-holders, the substance - thought to be tear gas - made them cough and tasted 'toxic' when they breathed it in.

Terror at Elrow festival as 'tear gas' is sprayed on crowd - leaving revellers to flee in fear while coughing and struggling to breathe

EXCLUSIVE: Partygoers have told of the heart-stopping moment a substance was thrown into the crowd, resulting in a stampede to get to safety

Revellers were left fighting to breathe and fleeing in panic when a 'mystery substance' was thrown over them at yesterday's Elrow Festival in London.

The incident happened between 8pm and 9pm in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in east London, during Jamie Jones' DJ set - and sparked so much panic that one festival-goer locked herself in a portaloo fearing a bomb had gone off.

According to ticket-holders, the substance - thought to be tear gas - made them cough and tasted 'toxic' when they breathed it in.

"We were dancing and all of a sudden I was coughing," eyewitness Ellis recalled.

"I realised that every time I took a breath it just made me want to cough even more. My eyes were watering but I couldn't believe there was anything wrong - I just thought there's no way anything dangerous would happen at a festival."

But Ellis soon realised it wasn't just her affected by the substance, which she believes had been thrown into the audience from somewhere near the right of the stage.

"Everyone around me was coughing and crying. Then a big crowd of people just started running, and I ran with them because I had no idea what was going on.

"We got to the outskirts of the crowd and some security guards came running over wanting to know what had happened. I told them, 'I don't know, but everyone's coughing and crying and no-one can breathe'.

"No one knew what was going on, but they soon established it was some sort of CS gas [tear gas] that someone had thrown. I've only ever seen it used in riots on the news. There were thousands and thousands of people there so finding out who it was was like finding a needle in a haystack," she went on.

"One of my friends heard someone shout 'bomb!', so she ran and hid in a portaloo. In light of all the terrorist attacks recently she thought that was what was happening, so she was petrified."

Terror at Elrow festival as 'tear gas' is sprayed on crowd - leaving revellers to flee in fear while coughing and struggling to breathe

EXCLUSIVE: Partygoers have told of the heart-stopping moment a substance was thrown into the crowd, resulting in a stampede to get to safety

Revellers were left fighting to breathe and fleeing in panic when a 'mystery substance' was thrown over them at yesterday's Elrow Festival in London.

The incident happened between 8pm and 9pm in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in east London, during Jamie Jones' DJ set - and sparked so much panic that one festival-goer locked herself in a portaloo fearing a bomb had gone off.

According to ticket-holders, the substance - thought to be tear gas - made them cough and tasted 'toxic' when they breathed it in.

"We were dancing and all of a sudden I was coughing," eyewitness Ellis recalled.

"I realised that every time I took a breath it just made me want to cough even more. My eyes were watering but I couldn't believe there was anything wrong - I just thought there's no way anything dangerous would happen at a festival."

But Ellis soon realised it wasn't just her affected by the substance, which she believes had been thrown into the audience from somewhere near the right of the stage.



"Everyone around me was coughing and crying. Then a big crowd of people just started running, and I ran with them because I had no idea what was going on.

"We got to the outskirts of the crowd and some security guards came running over wanting to know what had happened. I told them, 'I don't know, but everyone's coughing and crying and no-one can breathe'.

"No one knew what was going on, but they soon established it was some sort of CS gas [tear gas] that someone had thrown. I've only ever seen it used in riots on the news. There were thousands and thousands of people there so finding out who it was was like finding a needle in a haystack," she went on.

"One of my friends heard someone shout 'bomb!', so she ran and hid in a portaloo. In light of all the terrorist attacks recently she thought that was what was happening, so she was petrified."



Witnesses said they were forced to flee when a substance was thrown or sprayed over the crowd (Image: elrowofficial/Instagram)

Ellis said the experience was the end of the festival for her.

"We never went back to that area and that ruined the night for me, so I went home after that. It only lasted a few minutes but I did see a few people lying on the ground coughing, they just couldn't breathe.

"It wasn't big enough to affect the whole crowd, but there were a good hundred people running away.

"It was really scary."

Terror at Elrow festival as 'tear gas' is sprayed on crowd - leaving revellers to flee in fear while coughing and struggling to breathe

EXCLUSIVE: Partygoers have told of the heart-stopping moment a substance was thrown into the crowd, resulting in a stampede to get to safety

Revellers were left fighting to breathe and fleeing in panic when a 'mystery substance' was thrown over them at yesterday's Elrow Festival in London.

The incident happened between 8pm and 9pm in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in east London, during Jamie Jones' DJ set - and sparked so much panic that one festival-goer locked herself in a portaloo fearing a bomb had gone off.

According to ticket-holders, the substance - thought to be tear gas - made them cough and tasted 'toxic' when they breathed it in.

"We were dancing and all of a sudden I was coughing," eyewitness Ellis recalled.

"I realised that every time I took a breath it just made me want to cough even more. My eyes were watering but I couldn't believe there was anything wrong - I just thought there's no way anything dangerous would happen at a festival."

But Ellis soon realised it wasn't just her affected by the substance, which she believes had been thrown into the audience from somewhere near the right of the stage.



"Everyone around me was coughing and crying. Then a big crowd of people just started running, and I ran with them because I had no idea what was going on.

"We got to the outskirts of the crowd and some security guards came running over wanting to know what had happened. I told them, 'I don't know, but everyone's coughing and crying and no-one can breathe'.

"No one knew what was going on, but they soon established it was some sort of CS gas [tear gas] that someone had thrown. I've only ever seen it used in riots on the news. There were thousands and thousands of people there so finding out who it was was like finding a needle in a haystack," she went on.

"One of my friends heard someone shout 'bomb!', so she ran and hid in a portaloo. In light of all the terrorist attacks recently she thought that was what was happening, so she was petrified."



Witnesses said they were forced to flee when a substance 

Ellis said the experience was the end of the festival for her.

"We never went back to that area and that ruined the night for me, so I went home after that. It only lasted a few minutes but I did see a few people lying on the ground coughing, they just couldn't breathe.

"It wasn't big enough to affect the whole crowd, but there were a good hundred people running away.

"It was really scary."

Another witness, Elisha Armitage, said she and her boyfriend had been caught up in the incident - and were too scared to go to the afterparty.

"I started feeling like I was going to pass out and everything was spinning around me," she explained.

"I looked at my boyfriend and he couldn't stop coughing, it was then we were both choking. At first we thought it was just us two but everyone around us was the same and we all started running to the sides."

While there was no sign of smoke or bang, Elisha said a couple of hundred people fled in fear while choking for air.

She and her boyfriend suffered bad headaches hours after returning home and Elisha even threw up blood - something she believes is connected to the substance.

Fellow witness Taya said she was alerted when the people around her started surging forwards and screaming 'run!'.

She and her friends fled to the outskirts of the crowd while coughing, but when they looked back there was no fire or smoke like she'd assumed.

Terror at Elrow festival as 'tear gas' is sprayed on crowd - leaving revellers to flee in fear while coughing and struggling to breathe

EXCLUSIVE: Partygoers have told of the heart-stopping moment a substance was thrown into the crowd, resulting in a stampede to get to safety

Revellers were left fighting to breathe and fleeing in panic when a 'mystery substance' was thrown over them at yesterday's Elrow Festival in London.

The incident happened between 8pm and 9pm in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in east London, during Jamie Jones' DJ set - and sparked so much panic that one festival-goer locked herself in a portaloo fearing a bomb had gone off.

According to ticket-holders, the substance - thought to be tear gas - made them cough and tasted 'toxic' when they breathed it in.

"We were dancing and all of a sudden I was coughing," eyewitness Ellis recalled.

"I realised that every time I took a breath it just made me want to cough even more. My eyes were watering but I couldn't believe there was anything wrong - I just thought there's no way anything dangerous would happen at a festival."

But Ellis soon realised it wasn't just her affected by the substance, which she believes had been thrown into the audience from somewhere near the right of the stage.



"Everyone around me was coughing and crying. Then a big crowd of people just started running, and I ran with them because I had no idea what was going on.

"We got to the outskirts of the crowd and some security guards came running over wanting to know what had happened. I told them, 'I don't know, but everyone's coughing and crying and no-one can breathe'.

"No one knew what was going on, but they soon established it was some sort of CS gas [tear gas] that someone had thrown. I've only ever seen it used in riots on the news. There were thousands and thousands of people there so finding out who it was was like finding a needle in a haystack," she went on.

"One of my friends heard someone shout 'bomb!', so she ran and hid in a portaloo. In light of all the terrorist attacks recently she thought that was what was happening, so she was petrified."



Witnesses said they were forced to flee when a substance was thrown or sprayed over the crowd

Ellis said the experience was the end of the festival for her.

"We never went back to that area and that ruined the night for me, so I went home after that. It only lasted a few minutes but I did see a few people lying on the ground coughing, they just couldn't breathe.

"It wasn't big enough to affect the whole crowd, but there were a good hundred people running away.

"It was really scary."

Another witness, Elisha Armitage, said she and her boyfriend had been caught up in the incident - and were too scared to go to the afterparty.

"I started feeling like I was going to pass out and everything was spinning around me," she explained.

"I looked at my boyfriend and he couldn't stop coughing, it was then we were both choking. At first we thought it was just us two but everyone around us was the same and we all started running to the sides."



Revellers were left choking for air after the substance was thrown 

While there was no sign of smoke or bang, Elisha said a couple of hundred people fled in fear while choking for air.

She and her boyfriend suffered bad headaches hours after returning home and Elisha even threw up blood - something she believes is connected to the substance.

Fellow witness Taya said she was alerted when the people around her started surging forwards and screaming 'run!'.

She and her friends fled to the outskirts of the crowd while coughing, but when they looked back there was no fire or smoke like she'd assumed.

"In the context of everything that's happened in the world recently you just assume the absolute worst," she pointed out.

However, each of the witnesses Mirror Online spoke to agreed security had been excellent at the event, with extensive bag-checking at the entrance to the festival site and constant patrols by stewards.

There has been no comment from the Elrow organisers as yet, and the Met Police confirmed there were no reports of gas used.

Mirror Online has contacted a rep for the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to find out how a canister of tear gas (or similar) could have been brought into the venue..