UK police: Hate crime beating could have involved 30 people

[TomSea]

UK police: Hate crime beating could have involved 30 people
    By danica kirka, associated press
LONDON — Apr 3, 2017, 8:35 AM ET

 Authorities in London charged five people Monday over an unprovoked attack on a 17-year-old Iranian-Kurdish asylum-seeker as police sought to piece together the mob violence that involved up to 30 people.

London's Metropolitan Police say the five were charged with violent disorder, with one also being charged with racially aggravated grievous bodily harm following the attack Friday in the London borough of Croydon. Three others remain in custody.

Police said a group of youths approached the teen at a bus stop and questioned him. Upon learning he was an asylum-seeker, they chased him through the streets and beat him. The attack only stopped after police sirens could be heard and bystanders intervened. The teen's two friends got away.

The teen has been hospitalized with a fractured skull and a blood clot on the brain but police say he is starting to make a recovery and may be moved out of intensive care Monday.

Continued: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/uk-police-20-people-part-hate-beating-46537832