Police helicopters spent Friday night circling around the Thames in west London amid a nationwide manhunt launched for fugitive Daniel Abed Khalife.
Flight radar maps revealed a police helicopter circling over Chiswick House and Grove Park on Friday night.
Police activity centred around a wooded area on the south side of the Thames near the Hogarth roundabout. The search activity, however, was not confirmed to be linked to the manhunt for Khalife.
The first sighting of the fugitive was confirmed by police earlier after a witness came forward.
A member of the public said they saw a man resembling Khalife walking away from the BidFood delivery van that had stopped near the south entrance to the Wandsworth roundabout, on Wednesday morning.
Commissioner Mark Rowley had earlier said the escape was “clearly pre-planned” – pointing to “the fact he could strap himself onto the bottom of the wagon”, referring to the delivery van Khalife used to flee.
Police also confirmed Richmond Park to be “one of the areas that we’ve been looking”.
Key Points
- Who is Daniel Abed Khalife? Royal Signals soldier accused of planting fake bombs
- Radar map reveals aerial police activity around west London
- Police helicopters spend night circling around Thames river
- Police urge witness who claims to have spotted Khalife to come forward
- Police keeping ‘open mind’ on whether escaped terror suspect has left country
- Police search for fugitive terror suspect in Richmond Park
Recap: Two pieces of footage released by police in nationwide hunt for Khalife
07:29 , Tara Cobham
Police released new footage showing the BidFood van use by Daniel Khalife to escape prison as the force appealing to the public for their help in finding the fugitive terror suspect.
The video shows the lorry, which Khalife is thought to have clung to the bottom of, outside Wandsworth Town Hall and then driving on the A205 at the junction with Wandsworth Plain.
The Metropolitan Police is now offering a reward of up to £20,000 for information that leads to Khalife’s arrest, as detectives investigate a potentially “very significant” sighting of him near Wandsworth Roundabout.
Editorial: Daniel Khalife’s escape lays wide open the woeful state of our prisons
06:34 , Anuj Pant
There are three things that are invariably true about prison escapes. The first is that they are uncommon; the second is that most are planned with the help of accomplices; and the third is that they tend to capture the public imagination.
The case of the terror suspect Daniel Khalife is hardly The Shawshank Redemption, but it seems destined to stay in the headlines for weeks if not years to come, and his apparently audacious breakout has indeed become a focus of media and political attention. Soon, the clamour for a scapegoat – or just accountability – will begin, with the governor at Wandsworth prison, Katie Price, an obvious candidate.
An accidental consequence of this sensational story is that it has highlighted just how squalid conditions in the British prison system can be – and how far the prison service has been run down in recent years.
Editorial: Daniel Khalife’s escape lays wide open the woeful state of our prisons
Daniel Khalife’s family blame British Army as they urge fugitive to hand himself in
06:11 , Anuj Pant
Tearful relatives of fugitive Daniel Abed Khalife have appealed for him to give himself up and blamed the British Army for his current predicament.
“If I could talk to him, I would tell him to end this and give himself up, even though I understand he is afraid,” the unnamed relative said.
Describing him as a “very, very intelligent, easy going and kind boy”, they said he had changed in the past year and had become “scared to talk about it”.
They said “the army has to answer for what happened”.
Holly Evans has more.
Daniel Khalife’s family blame British Army as they urge fugitive to hand himself in
ICYMI: What are police doing in Richmond Park?
06:05 , Anuj Pant
Police have been searching Richmond Park in London as part of the manhunt for a former soldier and terror suspect who escaped from Wandsworth Prison.
Daniel Abed Khalife outwitted guards on Wednesday morning as he fled the prison clinging to straps underneath a food delivery van, and intelligence sources have told The Independent it is “almost certain that he had some inside help”.
Police have revealed that the 21-year-old had a 65-minute window to make his break for freedom between the Bidfood delivery van he fled on leaving the prison gates at 7.32am and the police catching up with it on Richmond Road in Putney at 8.37am.
Andy Gregory, Alexander Butler and Tara Cobham have the latest on the police search for Khalife.
Police scour Richmond Park as search for terror suspect on the run continues
Police officials say its ‘absolutely possible’ Khalife has already left country
05:58 , Anuj Pant
Met police chief Mark Rowley has said its ‘absolutely possible’ Daniel Abed Khalife has already left the country.
Khalife has been accused of planting fake bombs at a military base before he allegedly “graduated” to attempted spying for Iran.
Commissioner Mark Rowley also said Khalife’s escape was “clearly pre-planned”.
He was also asked if the escape was an “inside job”. “It is a question. Did anyone inside the prison help him? Other prisoners, guard staff?” he replied.
He said about 150 officers are involved in the nationwide manhunt for Khalife, with help from other forces and the Border Force.
Radar map reveals aerial police activity around west London
05:32 , Anuj Pant
A flight radar map has shown police activity that focused around west London, around Hammersmith and Chiswick.
Helicopters have spent Friday night circling the area. Officials, however, have not linked the activity to the nationwide manhunt for Khalife, who escaped Wandsworth prison.
Flight radar maps show particular interest around Hogarth roundabout
05:21 , Anuj Pant
Flight radar maps have shown police activity to be focused around Hammersmith and Chiswick in west London as the search for fugitive Daniel Khalife continues.
Police have focused on a wooded area on the south side of the Thames near the Hogarth roundabout, where there is a long wooded path on the south of the river.
The National Police Air Service (Npas) have confirmed they conducted searches at Richmond Park. The activity witnessed yesterday, however, has not been confirmed as being focused on the search for Khalife.
Police helicopters spend night circling around Thames river
05:14 , Anuj Pant
Police helicopters have spent the night circling around the Thames river in Hammersmith, west London as the search for fugitive Daniel Khalife continues.
Officials have not yet confirmed their focus is linked to Khalife.
