More women allege sex abuse by late owner of luxury retailer Harrods

Around 60 women have now come forward to allege they were sexually abused by former Harrods owner Mohamed Al-Fayed, lawyers representing them said on Sept 27.

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A BBC documentary last week aired claims by women that Mr Al-Fayed, who died in 2023 aged 94, raped and sexually abused them during his ownership of the luxury department store.

The accusations make the Egyptian billionaire the latest high-profile figure to join a list of rich and powerful men, such as Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, disgraced by sexual abuse allegations.

“The response has simply been enormous,” the lawyers said in a statement. “We can confirm that we now represent 60 survivors as part of our claim, with more to come.”

The legal team said that since going public following the television exposé, they had been contacted by people from all over the world.

“Our claim is becoming increasingly global in scope… We expected that anywhere Mohamed Al-Fayed went, abuse would follow,” the statement read.