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Convenience stores at MTR stations will not be able to sell lighters from March 1. Photo: Dickson Lee

Ban on sale of lighters in MTR stations from March 1, following Hong Kong firebomb attack

Company notified convenience stores involved that they must stop selling lighters to ensure safety in stations

The MTR Corporation is banning the sale of lighters in convenience stores at its stations following an arson attack on a train earlier this month.

A spokesman said the stores concerned had been notified that they should not sell lighters from March 1 to ensure public safety in stations.

The city’s sole mass transit railways operator said the notification was issued after a recent assessment.

This follows the February 10 MTR firebomb attack on a packed train travelling from Admiralty to Tsim Sha Tsui during the evening rush hour, which left 19 injured. A 60-year-old man, who has since been charged with arson, was believed to have started the blaze with a lighter.

MTR Corp formed an investigation panel in the wake of the incident.

Transport minister Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung said the government would mandate a thorough review of MTR safety and emergency measures.

Flammable, toxic, and corrosive items were already banned in MTR trains and stations, but staff do not regularly enforce this.

Passenger Ko Lok-yee said the lighter sale ban was a good move, since it would make it harder for people to access them for violent purposes.

“If it’s harder to buy them at stations, the likelihood of this incident happening again will decrease. It will be safer,” she said.

Ko has felt safe riding the MTR since the attack, saying the railway company has been “responsive and proactive about ensuring passenger safety since the incident”.

But others criticised the ban for being ineffective, saying an arsonist could still buy a lighter elsewhere.

“If I want to set a fire, I would have already bought a lighter,” one Facebook user said. “What is the point?”

“You can’t buy it there, but you can bring it,” another commented.

Others called it a palliative measure, and some said mockingly the MTR should simply bar all passengers to avoid another fire.

“[It] should ultimately ban live persons riding [the] MTR, as people are bloody dangerous,” a netizen wrote.

The decision to stop shops from stocking lighters was made to “maintain a safe environment for our passengers”, said Kendrew Wong, the MTR’s media relations manager.

When asked if the MTR would increase security following the attack, Wong said: “The MTR has always been monitoring and ­reviewing operational safety at different stations. MTR staff will patrol in stations from time to time and will follow up should [a] situation be found.”

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: MTR bans lighter sales at stations after firebomb
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