Bank left open after door fails

An electrical malfunction at a branch of Wing Lung Bank meant that the entrance was left open for nearly 15 minutes on Wednesday night with $1 million cash inside.

The roller shutter of the bank in San Po Kong was believed to have opened automatically at 9.56pm, according to police.

An alarm was set off immediately, alerting officers, who initially suspected theft. They discovered it was a failure of the electronic system only after conducting a three-hour investigation.

Video footage from the bank's closed circuit television showed that no one had entered the bank after the shutter opened. It was left unattended for less than 15 minutes before security guards and police arrived.

There was more than $1 million in cash inside, according to a bank spokesman, Patrick Poon Tak-kau, although the money was not in danger of being stolen.

'We have tested the security system several times since the incident and no flaws have been detected,' he said.