Man arrested after firebomb attack on Hong Kong MTR train injures at least 18
Video captures aftermath after fire breaks out on board the train at Tsim Sha Tsui station on Friday evening, as one man is arrested in connection with the incident
A man, declaring he would burn passengers to death, set off a firebomb on a crowded MTR train during Hong Kong’s evening rush hour on Friday, injuring at least 18 people and spreading chaos among panic-stricken commuters.
The attack on the Tsuen Wan Line as the train was pulling into Tsim Sha Tsui station shortly after 7pm forced authorities to shut down one of the city’s busiest transport interchanges, as the platform was turned into a triage zone for shell-shocked victims requiring first aid.
A police source said: “A man tried to hurl a lit Molotov cocktail [petrol bomb] on board a packed train when it was about to reach TST platform and he caught fire.”
The suspect said “burn you to death” before he drew the bottle and lit it, a police source said.
Yau Tsim District Commander Kwok Pak-chung said a 60-year-old man, Cheung Kam-Fai, was arrested in connection with the incident. He claimed to have started the fire for “personal reasons”.
Kwok dismissed suspicions that it was a terrorist attack, saying so far there was no such evidence, but said they would not rule out any possibilities in their investigations.