Victim of Towie nightclub acid attack bares her horrific scars and relives terrifying moment she saw smoke and felt her face melting as she pleads ‘find the monster who did this to me’
A WOMAN victim in the nightclub acid attack said she saw smoke and then felt her face melting.
Sophie Hall, 21, had been celebrating a friend’s birthday when she was hit by the burning liquid which left two people blind and injured 18 more.
Police are hunting Arthur Collins, 25, ex-boyfriend of former Towie star Ferne McCann, in connection with the Easter Monday attack.
Sophie, who suffered burns to her face, shoulder and back, urged the perpetrator to hand himself in and called him a scumbag.
She said: “My face is ruined. You cannot run forever.
“What sort of person throws acid in a packed nightclub?”
Estate agent Sophie had bought a table with a group of pals for a birthday night out at Mangle nightclub in Dalston, East London.
She recalled: “I recognised some of the Towie crowd and I definitely saw Collins.
"I recognised him from Ferne’s Instagram and Twitter.
There was a plume of smoke... then my face felt like it was on fire
"He was with a group of guys and seemed to be having a good time.”
Sophie said trouble believed to be about a drugs deal broke out near her around 1am.
She said: “I turned and there was a plume of white smoke coming towards me.
"It smelt like petrol and it hit me and was the most awful burning and stinging sensation.
“There was panic and shouting and I just started crying because my face felt as if it was on fire.
"My friends grabbed me and took me to the toilets and security gave us bottles of water to pour on our faces.
"Then I looked in the mirror and saw how disfigured my face was.
“The acid had run down my cheeks and burnt into my skin. I was hysterical.”
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It also singed through her new £1,200 outfit, which had to be thrown away as police gave her a white forensic suit to wear.
Sophie, who thought the venue had been attacked by terrorists, was taken to hospital after calling her mum.
The horse rider, from Poole, Dorset, said: “She came to the hospital and there were more tears but we reassured each other everything would be OK.”
She was discharged and has to take a month off work but is staying positive.
She said: “I’ll have scars and my left eye is slightly blurred but at least I can still see.”
A woman, 22, and a man, 24, have both been blinded in one eye by the attack, with others also requiring “long-term treatment”.
Police yesterday arrested two men, aged 21 and 24, in connection with the attack.
Collins, of Broxbourne, Herts, was still at large with cops warning the public not to approach him.
A source said: “There is a possibility he has gone to Spain. He is a regular visitor to the Costa del Sol and he has friends there.”
There was also an unconfirmed sighting yesterday of Ferne, 26, checking in at an airport.
Det Insp Lee McCullough said: “The net is closing in on those we believe to be responsible. Anyone found harbouring those wanted for questioning can expect a knock at the door.”