Police say an asylum seeker who was attacked and beaten by a 30-strong mob is 'lucky to be alive'.

The victim, a 17-year-old Kurdish Iranian, was waiting at a bus stop with two friends outside The Goat pub in Croydon, south-east London, when he was set upon by the gang.

The teen was chased by a huge group of youths for around 100 yards into an estate before he punched and kicked outside a nursery.

His two friends, Dilahad Mohammed an Iraqi Kurd and Hamo Ahmed Mustafa, both adults, were also chased by the group, who stole the victim's watch and two gold chains after beating him, the court heard.

Prime Minister Theresa May condemned the attack as 'absolutely despicable' and urged people to help police track down the 'scum' responsible.

Appeal: These two men are being sought in connection with the attack on a 17-year-old Kurdish Iranian who was attacked at a bus stop in Croydon

The victim is fighting for his life after being beaten in a 'brutal attack' by a gang in what police are treating as a hate crime. Pictured: The road where he was attacked

The Prime Minister echoed the comments of local Tory MP Gavin Barwell, who branded the attackers 'cowardly and despicable scum'.

Speaking to reporters during a flight to Jordan at the start of a three-day Middle East visit, she said: 'This was an absolutely abominable attack, completely unacceptable.

'I absolutely agree with the sentiments of Gavin Barwell when he commented on this and I just hope that anybody who has any information about this will give that information to the police.'

Detectives have made 16 arrests and charged seven people aged between 20 and 24.

Six face charges of violent disorder. Another is accused of violent disorder and causing grievous bodily harm. They all appeared at Croydon magistrates court today.

Kyran Evans, 23, and a 17-year-old girl are two of those charged with violent disorder over the attack, Scotland Yard said.

Scotland Yard have also released images of two other men they wish to speak to in connection with the incident.

During the attack, which has chilling echoes of the Stephen Lawrence murder, a mob of up to 30 men and woman chased the terrified 17-year-old along a South London street.

Speaking before her trip to Jordan today, pictured, Prime Minister Theresa May described the attack as 'absolutely despicable' and urged people to help track down the 'scum' responsible

The boy screamed 'help, help, help' as he was thrown to the floor and blows rained down on him.

The attackers swore and hurled abuse at the Kurdish Iranian teenager during the 'horrendous and frenzied' assault, which stopped only when they heard police sirens.

The unconscious victim was left sprawled 'flat out' in the suburban street fighting for his life.

He suffered serious head injuries and is recovering in hospital. Police say he is lucky to be alive.

Two of his friends, who are also asylum seekers, were also attacked and injured.

Police released this image of a woman they wanted to speak to this morning. The woman is understood to have since handed herself in to police. She was not arrested, police confirmed

Graffiti appeared on the road where the brutal attack took place, with the words 'refugees welcome' emblazoned on an electricity box

There has been a backlash in the areas and messages of support for the victim have appeared across a nearby estate in south london

Detective Superintendent Jane Corrigan said: 'This horrendous attack is racially motivated, this hate crime is just not acceptable.

'We have already arrested 11 people and there are five people we know the identities of and are actively seeking.

Crowdfunders raise £9,000 for victim An online fund for the victim of the Croydon attack has raised nearly £9,000 in less than two days. The fund, set up on the JustGiving website, set a target of raising £3,500 when it was posted online hours after police announced what had happened. It surpassed that target more than twice over today. Advertisement

'We put out three images this morning and the female suspect has made herself known to us. We think there were 20-30 people I total.

'We have charged individuals based on the footage we have obtained and the suspects we have already identified are between 17 and 24.

'The victim had come from a friend's house and the three individuals were waiting for a bus when the unprovoked attack occurred. They were viciously attacked because they were asylum seekers.'

DS Corrigan said of the victim: 'He is a Croydon resident and he has been living here for a number of months.

'He is a student and he came here to take refuge, we are looking to remove him from the ICU unit and we will be interviewing him.

'His friends were also injured in the incident and are asylum seekers.'

The teenager, a Kurdish Iranian, was waiting at a bus stop with two friends outside The Goat pub in Croydon, south-east London

Police are also hunting a white hatchback with a black roof which was seen in the area at the time of the attack.

The incident drew widespread condemnation, with local Tory MP Gavin Barwell describing the attackers as 'cowardly and despicable scum'.

He said Friday night's attack in Croydon had worrying similarities to the April 1993 murder of Stephen Lawrence by racist thugs as he waited at a bus stop in nearby Eltham.

Government minister and local Tory MP Gavin Barwell describing the attackers as 'cowardly and despicable scum'

But he added: 'I have very strong memories of that case, and that centred on the failure of the police to act quickly.

The contrast between that and the way Croydon Police have responded to this incident shows how far the Met Police has travelled.'

The victim, believed to be an unaccompanied child refugee living with foster parents in Croydon, was waiting at a bus stop with two friends when the group approached them just before midnight.

After discovering he was an asylum seeker, they chased the friends for about 100 yards. Two managed to escape with minor injuries, but the 17-year-old was caught.

A resident of Shrublands Avenue, where the attack happened, said: 'I saw a group of 30 people running towards the teenager.

'A group surrounded him watching as about four or five were punching and smacking him everywhere. I heard lots of arguing and swearing. They were shouting f-words at the guy as they were hitting him. They were shouting 'mother******' as they punched him. I just heard him screaming, saying, 'help, help, help'.

'I saw him on the floor after – he wasn't moving – and the guys ran away. A couple of minutes later the ambulance and paramedics arrived.'

Police believe a gang of around eight were involved in the attack but residents said many more watched on while the boy was beaten on the ground

Another resident said: 'There were more than eight people, there was a massive group coming up from The Goat pub. You couldn't see who was hitting who.

'There was one person, the one who ended up in hospital, he was getting absolutely beaten up – kicked, mostly in the facial area. He was getting kicked and punched by everyone.

ABBOTT BLASTED FOR BLAMING TORIES Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott Diane Abbott was denounced as 'sickening' after she blamed Brexit and the Tories for the gang attack on the teenage asylum seeker in Croydon. Labour's Shadow Home Secretary sought political gain while the 17-year-old Kurdish Iranian was fighting for his life in hospital. After the brutal assault in South London, Miss Abbott blamed the Conservatives for the incident, saying: 'Sadly, this is not an isolated incident but part of a sustained increase in hate crimes that this Tory Government is yet to offer any effective response to. 'With Right-wing politicians across the world scapegoating migrants, refugees and others for their economic problems, we are seeing a deeply worrying rise in the politics of hate. 'We must make clear that there is no place for anti-foreigner myths, racism and hate in our society.' Miss Abbott then went on Sky News to suggest Brexit had been a factor. 'I'm not surprised in the attack because we have seen a rise in hate crime and anti-migrant feeling, particularly since Brexit,' she said. 'Much of the Brexit campaign was around fear of migrants, this now is being reflected in the rise in hate crime. 'I'm hearing anecdotal evidence of people being shouted at and abused in the street. I've not been attacked, but friends and family members have been shouted at in the street.' Chris Philp, the Tory MP for Croydon South, said it was 'despicable' to blame the referendum for the attack. 'This is a sickening attempt by Diane Abbott to politicise what is an awful crime that has been condemned by people across the political spectrum,' he said. 'What she seems to be doing is to attribute blame for the rise in hate crime to political parties – that is completely unjustified and unreasonable.' Advertisement

'There was a group of roughly ten people who were kicking and punching him, and the rest, another ten or 20, were all just around watching. When they heard sirens, they started to go.'

Sylvia Addo, who also lives near the scene, said some of the attackers did not run away until the police arrived.

She added: 'Me and my husband arrived home at the same time as the police. As we were driving down the road we saw three young men running away towards the pub. They looked a bit frantic and you could tell that something bad had happened.'

The victim was initially described as critical, but last night was said to be in a serious but stable condition in hospital.

Chief Superintendent Jeff Boothe, Croydon's borough commander, called it a 'savage' and 'horrendous and frenzied attack'.

'A number of bystanders and eyewitnesses tried to intervene and say to the attackers that enough is enough,' he said.

'By all accounts they didn't actually stop until the sound of police sirens were heard.'

He added: 'Hate crime is something which we understand can be very, very divisive. Croydon is culturally diverse and we need to continue to celebrate that.' One local responded to the brutal attack by spraying graffiti near the scene that read, 'Refugees welcome'.

Croydon is well known for its links to refugees arriving in Britain because the Home Office's immigration office at Lunar House is based there.

Local resident Siobhan Ross, 60, said she didn't believe the attack was race related.

She said: 'We have had asylum seeks here for years and it's not about that.

'People live here side by side and they have done for years. This is not an area where there is racial tension.'

Another local said a row broke out between the victim's friends and those who later attacked him.

A 20-year-old, who refused to give his name, said: 'This is not racism, I am a Kurd and I have lots of friends from different backgrounds.

'Nobody has heard of racism in this area, we don't want to make it look bad.'

Sharon Swaby, of the local residents' association, added: 'It is a terrible attack, but completely out of character with the area. I have been here for decades and never experienced a racist incident.'

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said: 'Hate crime has no place in London, Britain or anywhere else.'

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn tweeted: 'Absolutely shocked at attack on young Kurdish asylum seeker, who came here searching for safety. I fervently hope he makes a full recovery.'

Anyone with information that can assist in identifying or locating the people shown in the images should contact Croydon CID during office hours on 020 3276 2234 or via 101, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.