Hong Kong metro stays shut after night of violent protests

HONG KONG - Hong Kong's metro system will stay shut on Saturday, the rail operator said, paralyzing transport in the Asian financial hub after a night of chaos in which police shot a teenage boy and pro-democracy protesters torched businesses and metro stations.

Friday's protests across the Chinese-ruled city erupted hours after its embattled leader Carrie Lam invoked colonial-era emergency powers last used more than 50 years ago to ban face masks, which demonstrators use to conceal their identities.

Increasingly violent demonstrations that have roiled the city for four months began in opposition to a bill introduced in April that would have allowed extradition to mainland China but have since spiraled into a broader pro-democracy movement.

MTR Corp said its network, which carries about 5 million passengers each day, would remain suspended, while shopping malls and supermarkets also closed, in a new blow for retailers and restaurants in a city on the edge of recession.

"As we are no longer in a position to provide safe and reliable service to passengers in the circumstances, the corporation had no choice but to make the decision to suspend the service of its entire network," it said in a statement.

Protesters had set fires at stations, as well as to an empty train, and injured two staff, added MTR, which is known for operating one of the world's most efficient rail networks.

All stations closed late on Friday, stranding passengers and forcing many to walk home, a situation set to worsen as the city goes into a holiday weekend.

Further demonstrations are planned across Hong Kong through Monday, which is a public holiday, but it was not immediately clear how the transport shutdown would affect them.

More than a dozen shopping malls, supermarkets, and branches of Bank of China (Hong Kong), Bank of East Asia , and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China , which have been targeted by protesters, said they would not open on Saturday.

Lam, Hong Kong's Beijing-backed leader, said the ban on face masks that took effect from Saturday was ordered under emergency laws allowing authorities to "make any regulations whatsoever" in what they deem to be the public interest.

But the move enraged protesters, who took to the streets to vent their anger, many wearing masks in defiance of the ban. There were no immediate reports of arrests over the masks.

Demonstrators set fires, hurled petrol bombs at police and burned the Chinese national flag, in a direct challenge to authorities in Beijing.

Police said an officer in Yuen Long, a district in the outlying New Territories that saw fierce clashes in July, had fired a shot in self-defense after a protester threw a petrol bomb at him, setting him on fire.

Media said a 14-year-old boy had been shot and the city’s Hospital Authority said his condition was now stable, but gave no details.

About 100 demonstrators besieged a branch of the Bank of China (Hong Kong) in the high-end shopping district of Causeway Bay, while across the harbor in the district of Kowloon, protesters smashed the glass store front of a China Life branch.

Police fired volleys of tear gas to disperse protesters in flashpoint districts such as Causeway Bay, Sha Tin and Wong Tai Sin, underscoring the challenges authorities face as the protests show no sign of letting up.

Hospital authorities said 31 people were hurt in Friday's protests, two of them seriously.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Man arrested in Hong Kong subway arson attack

At least 17 hurt in fire at busy Hong Kong subway station

HONG KONG - Police arrested a man over a suspected arson attack on Friday after fire broke out inside a train at one of Hong Kong's busiest subway stations during rush hour, injuring at least 17 people, including two who are in a critical condition.

A 60-year-old man surnamed Cheung, who was seriously injured in the incident, admitted he started the fire while the train was headed to the busy Tsim Sha Tsui shopping district, district Police Commander Kwok Pak-chung told reporters.

"While he was on the way to the hospital he mentioned some personal reasons, but he was incoherent. What he said did not make much sense," Kwok said.

He said there was so far no information to suggest the incident could be described as an act of terrorism. The Counter Terrorism Response Unit which was patrolling nearby at the time of the incident was at the scene quickly to assist, he said.

Online media footage, which Reuters could not independently verify, showed people beating out the flames on a man's legs as he lay on the platform. Kwok told reporters the man, whose trousers appeared to be completely burned, was likely to be Cheung.

Another video showed flames burning several items scattered inside the train. It then showed a crowd on the platform who appeared calm as they pointed their phones at the fire. A fire alarm sounded in the station and a man could be heard shouting: "Let's go, let's go, let's go."

Two passengers in the underground train as it crossed the Victoria Harbour told Reuters they saw a lot of smoke.

"Suddenly a lot of thick white smoke swarmed over us. People started covering their noses and mouths. But people were calm. Nobody screamed," said passenger Nigel Ngai, 30. He added that the smoke smelled like burned plastic.

"I didn't know if it was a terrorist attack," he said.

Another passenger, 28-year-old Ms. Chau, said the experience was "a little scary" but people exited the train calmly. "There were many people and it was impossible to run," she said.

Hong Kong leader, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, said in a statement he was "highly concerned" about the incident and has asked the relevant departments to investigate.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Panic on Hong Kong subway as fire injures 9

Panic struck evening rush hour commuters on Hong Kong's subway system Friday after a fire broke out in a passenger cabin, injuring nine people and prompting the evacuation of a major station.

Videos circulating online showed chaos on the platform at Tsim Sha Tsui station, with parts of the cabin on fire and one passenger lying on the platform with his clothes ablaze as bystanders tried to help him.

"Passengers were asked to evacuate from the Tsim Sha Tsui station," a police spokeswoman told AFP.

Other images from official broadcaster RTHK showed people packed in a smoke-filled train cabin, and described the situation as "chaotic".

The report said the fire had been extinguished by staff.

The incident is a rare occurrence in Asia's finance hub, where the transportation network is known for its safety and efficiency.

Mass Transit Railway (MTR), the company which operates the city's subway, announced in its stations that "staff are handling the situation" and that trains were skipping Tsim Sha Tsui station, which services a popular retail district.

The MTR said the fire had caused disruptions on one of its lines and called on commuters to consider switching to other forms of transport.

source: news.abs-cbn.com