HK fire suspect sought by police
By Wang Qingchu |
December 3, 2011, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
HONG Kong police have identified a suspect in Wednesday's arson attack that killed nine people and injured 34 in a crowded market as a middle-aged man.
Police are looking for the suspect aged 40 to 45, who was dressed in a light color jacket and jeans, the Yangcheng Evening News reported yesterday.
While the blaze engulfed the hawkers' stalls on Fa Yuen Street in the Mong Kok district early Wednesday morning, two more fires were reported at a nearby exit of the Prince Edward Metro Station and Sai Yeung Choi Street around the same time, the report said.
Police think the three arson attacks were perpetrated by the same man because the method was similar, the newspaper said. Police are also seeking two men captured on closed-circuit television at the scene, as they may provide crucial information, Bloomberg News said earlier.
"We are not treating them as suspects at the moment," Brian Lowcock, superintendent of the police's Kowloon West crime division, told reporters on Thursday, Bloomberg said.
An 11-month-old boy, 16 men and 17 women have been admitted to hospitals, with five of them in a critical condition.
The blaze broke out about 4:40am and quickly spread to nearby residential buildings where rescuers found most of the casualties. It was largely extinguished by 12:28pm.
An arson attack hit the area, famous for its markets and shops in narrow streets, last December when 50 hawkers' stalls and shops were damaged.
Police suspected it was caused by fights between rival gangs who battled over control of the area, but hawkers denied it, Hong Kong-based Wen Wei Po reported earlier.
Before Wednesday's deadly blaze, residents reported they heard noisy quarrels, stoking rumors of gang fights again.
Cheng So-ngor, chairperson of Federation of Hong Kong Kowloon New Territories Hawker Associations, didn't respond to rumors that gangs collected protection fees from hawkers, Wen Wei Po said.
Police are looking for the suspect aged 40 to 45, who was dressed in a light color jacket and jeans, the Yangcheng Evening News reported yesterday.
While the blaze engulfed the hawkers' stalls on Fa Yuen Street in the Mong Kok district early Wednesday morning, two more fires were reported at a nearby exit of the Prince Edward Metro Station and Sai Yeung Choi Street around the same time, the report said.
Police think the three arson attacks were perpetrated by the same man because the method was similar, the newspaper said. Police are also seeking two men captured on closed-circuit television at the scene, as they may provide crucial information, Bloomberg News said earlier.
"We are not treating them as suspects at the moment," Brian Lowcock, superintendent of the police's Kowloon West crime division, told reporters on Thursday, Bloomberg said.
An 11-month-old boy, 16 men and 17 women have been admitted to hospitals, with five of them in a critical condition.
The blaze broke out about 4:40am and quickly spread to nearby residential buildings where rescuers found most of the casualties. It was largely extinguished by 12:28pm.
An arson attack hit the area, famous for its markets and shops in narrow streets, last December when 50 hawkers' stalls and shops were damaged.
Police suspected it was caused by fights between rival gangs who battled over control of the area, but hawkers denied it, Hong Kong-based Wen Wei Po reported earlier.
Before Wednesday's deadly blaze, residents reported they heard noisy quarrels, stoking rumors of gang fights again.
Cheng So-ngor, chairperson of Federation of Hong Kong Kowloon New Territories Hawker Associations, didn't respond to rumors that gangs collected protection fees from hawkers, Wen Wei Po said.
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