Hijacker wielding 35cm-long knife holds terrified Hong Kong bus passengers hostage
Police are hunting a knife-wielding hijacker who held a busload of people hostage before fleeing as shocked passengers looked on.
Police are hunting a knife-wielding hijacker who held a busload of people hostage before fleeing as shocked passengers looked on.
The terrifying ride began at about 8pm on Thursday when the man boarded the Sham Shui Po-bound Kowloon Motor Bus single-decker on route 212 in Nathan Road, Mong Kok.
A 35cm-long sushi knife, stolen from a Japanese restaurant, was under his clothes when he got on the bus, police said.
"As the man failed to pay the bus fare, the 58-year-old driver asked him to pay. He then brandished the weapon and ordered the driver to keep driving," a police spokesman said.
The spokesman said the hijacker also used the knife to hit the handrail near the seat of the bus driver.
There were about 10 passengers on board at the time.
"The man asked the bus driver whether he was frightened and did not allow him to stop. I thought [the bus] missed at least two bus stops," a female passenger said.
"No one dared say anything on board. We quickly moved to the back of the bus."
After travelling more than a kilometre, the knifeman ordered the driver to pull over in Boundary Street, near the junction with Lai Chi Kok Road in Sham Shui Po. He then got off the bus and fled on foot.
Officers combed the area but no one was arrested. No one was injured in the incident.
The man was described as thin, about 1.8 metres tall and aged about 35. He was wearing a cap, a grey long-sleeved shirt, black trousers and black shoes.
"Before he boarded the bus, he rushed into a Japanese restaurant [in Nathan Road, Mong Kok], snatched a sushi knife from its kitchen and ran out," the spokesman said.
He said a restaurant employee, 32, followed the man and saw him board the bus. A report was then made to police.
Officers were checking security camera footage last night in an effort to identify the man.
Detectives from the Mong Kok district crime squad are investigating.
Police urged anyone with information to call 2398 6495.
