Hong Kong mall clash ends in bloody knife attack and bitten off ear

HONG KONG - Hong Kong anti-government protesters crowded a shopping mall in running clashes with police on Sunday during which a man with a knife slashed several people and apparently bit off part of a local politician's ear.

A human chain in Cityplaza, in the eastern suburb of Taikoo Shing, turned into a face-to-face conflict with police, running up and down escalators where families with young children had been window shopping just minutes before and watching skating on the ice rink.

Police said protesters had vandalized a restaurant in the mall after a peaceful chanting of slogans in the 22nd straight weekend of protests by Hong Kong people furious at perceived Chinese meddling in the former British colony which returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

Several people were wounded, with one man in a white tee-shirt, believed to be the knifeman, being beaten with sticks by protesters. Another man lay in a pool of blood on the pavement outside the mall.

Democratic district councilor Andrew Chiu was among the wounded, blood dripping from his ear. Democratic Party lawmaker James To told reporters the knifeman had bitten off part of Chiu's ear and slashed other people.

He said the other wounded were in more serious condition than Chiu who was seen on TV holding the piece of his ear in a plastic bag with bloody hands.

A kitchen knife lay on the ground outside the mall.

Police made several arrests as protesters shouted "black police!", a reference to their perceived brutality. The standoff lasted into the night, with residents jeering police from the roadside and balconies of nearby apartments, chanting "leave now" and more colorful Cantonese expletives.

Police fired tear gas, outside the East Hotel in Taikoo Shing, to try to break up the crowds. They then left.

"These police are not what they used to be," said Julie, 24, giving police the middle finger. "They come in here and push us around. It is not right."

Police fired pepper spray at reporters when they got too close. One journalist was arrested.

“This is out of control. This was a peaceful protest. And these people are just local residents, we live around here,” said Desmond Fong, 28, who works in marketing. He was out shopping for sneakers when the protest erupted.

Taikoo Shing is an office and high-rise apartment development dating back to the 1970s, with the newer office, bar and restaurant district of Quarry Bay next door. Police said they were investigating the knife attacks.

CLEAN-UP AFTER SATURDAY'S VIOLENCE

There were also running battles, vandalism and scuffles in and around malls in the New Territories towns of Tai Po, Tuen Mun and Sha Tin, where police fired pepper spray as protesters hurled abuse. Protesters built a street barricade in Tai Po.

Pro-democracy protesters battled police across the main island on Saturday, furious at Communist Party leaders in Beijing and perceived Chinese meddling with Hong Kong's promised freedoms, which China denies.

They have vandalized Hong Kong businesses seen as being pro-China and in July daubed China's Liaison Office, the key symbol of Chinese sovereignty, with graffiti.

Cleaners swept up broken glass at the Hong Kong office of China's official Xinhua news agency on Sunday, one of the buildings vandalized as activists hurled petrol bombs and set fire to metro stations.

Xinhua condemned the attack by what it said were "barbaric thugs" who broke doors and security systems and threw fire and paint bombs into the lobby.

"The practice of the black rioters once again shows that 'stopping the violence and restoring order' is Hong Kong's most important and urgent task at present," a spokesperson for Xinhua said in a Facebook post.

Police fired tear gas, rubber bullets and a water cannon at protesters on Saturday and early Sunday as the violence spilled from Hong Kong island across the harbor to Kowloon. One of the protesters' key demands is an independent probe into perceived police brutality.

There have been several injuries during five months of unrest, including a protester shot in the chest and a policeman slashed in the neck, but no deaths since the protests began in June.

Hong Kong returned to China under a "one country, two systems" formula which guarantees its freedoms for 50 years. China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) has a garrison in Hong Kong but troops have remained in barracks since the protests began.

Protesters last month targeted a PLA barracks with lasers prompting troops to hoist a banner warning they could be arrested. Senior PLA officers have said violence will not be tolerated.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

19 dead, 60 hurt as Hong Kong double-decker bus overturns

HONG KONG - The driver of a double-decker bus that overturned in Hong Kong killing at least 19 people and injuring more than 60 was arrested on Saturday evening for dangerous driving, police said.

Images from the scene showed rescuers trying to reach passengers trapped inside the bus, which lay on its side with part of its roof torn off near the town of Tai Po in the northern New Territories.

It appeared to have slid on its side and hit a lamppost which smashed into the upper decks of the vehicle. The driver has been arrested on charges of causing death and grievous bodily harm by dangerous driving.

In an updated toll in the early hours of Sunday morning the city's Hospital Authority said another victim had died, bringing the total to 19 fatalities.

But ten of the injured were in critical condition, while another 20 were seriously wounded, officials said.

Most of the dead and injured were on the upper deck of the bus, Chan Hing-yu of the fire department told reporters.

The driver was suspected of being over the speed limit as he went down a slope and lost control of the vehicle, senior traffic superintendent Lee Chi-wai told reporters.

He was not in need of any medical treatment after the crash and was be sober, he added.

'REALLY CHAOTIC'

Speaking to local media, passengers said the bus was going to fast before the crash.

"It was much faster than I normally felt in a bus," one injured passenger told the South China Morning Post's online edition.

"And then it was like the tyre slipped, and the bus turned. It was really chaotic in the bus. People fell on one another and got tossed from side to side," he said.

Before the crash, passengers had complained to the driver who was reportedly 10 minutes late and he then started speeding up, the Apple Daily reported, quoting injured passengers at the scene.

One injured passenger told the Oriental Daily said it was like the driver was "intentionally using the bus to throw a tantrum."

Lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting of the Democratic Party urged the government to rethink the design of double-decker buses saying the upper decks had been "repeatedly torn off in accidents, posing a serious threat to passengers on the upper level".

He also called the government to address the issue of many drivers working overly long hours.

City leader Carrie Lam, who visited survivors at the Prince of Wales Hospital late on Saturday, expressed "deep sorrow" and pledged there would be an independent investigation.

DEADLY DOUBLE-DECKER ACCIDENTS

The southern Chinese city promotes its public transport system as one of the best infrastructures in the world but fatal accidents do occasionally happen.

Hong Kong's worst road traffic accident occurred in 2003 when a double-decker bus collided with a truck and plunged from a bridge, killing 21 people.

In 2008, 18 people were killed in another bus crash.

Fourteen people were injured last April when a double-decker tram tipped over, with a 23-year-old driver later arrested for dangerous driving causing harm to others.

The safety of Hong Kong's notoriously crowded waterways has also remained under scrutiny since 39 people were killed when a high-speed ferry and a pleasure boat crashed in 2012.

source: news.abs-cbn.com