Two of four suspects in mainland Chinese tourist’s death ‘may have left Hong Kong': police
The suspect was brought back to the scene to recreate beating Miao while police held a dummy
Two of the four men who allegedly attacked and killed a mainland tourist at a jewellery shop in Hung Hom on Monday may have fled across the border, police sources say.
Detectives believe the fugitive pair who helped drag 54-year-old Miao Chunqi out of the store before beating him unconscious could be tour group leaders from the mainland.
Hours after the attack, police arrested two other men - one of them from Hong Kong and the other a tour group leader from the mainland. Miao died in Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Yau Ma Tei, on Tuesday.
The two arrested men - aged 32 and 44 - were jointly charged with manslaughter yesterday and will appear in Kowloon City Court today. Police also arrested two women, aged 32 and 53, for fighting in a public place. They have been released on bail pending further inquiries.
Yesterday officers took one of the male suspects - hooded, chained and wearing a black T-shirt and trousers - back to the scene in Man Lok Street, where a blow-up dummy was used to film a reconstruction of events.
During a bizarre 30-minute episode, the suspect, who was held on a metal chain leash by a plain-clothes officer, was asked to kick the dummy "victim" while it was held by officers at the entrance to a car park.
READ MORE: Tourist’s death after alleged beating will ‘further damage Hong Kong’s image in mainland China’, state newspaper says
Miao and a female colleague, Zhang Lixia, 53, were among a group of 19 mainland tourists who arrived from Shenzhen on Sunday. He was allegedly attacked after intervening in a dispute between Zhang and the woman leader of their tour group inside the shop.
His death prompted a rare call from the nation's tourism authority for Hong Kong to protect the rights of mainland travellers.
Several mainland media outlets covered the death of the tourist, rekindling anti-Hong Kong sentiment online.
Global Times, a state-run Beijing-based conservative daily, said the tragedy had reminded many mainlanders about previous anti-mainland behaviour by extreme forces and would "further damage Hong Kong's image in mainlanders' minds".
The newspaper said while details of the tragedy - such as whether the beating was led by a mainland gang - remained unclear, the death reflected a "chaotic Hong Kong tourism market and a serious loophole in the rule of law".
It noted that following the pro-democracy Occupy movement and anti-parallel trading campaigns, many mainlanders had opted to travel to other Asian destinations instead of "helping maintain Hong Kong's economic prosperity".
READ MORE: Mainland tourist dies day after being 'beaten unconscious' while intervening in fracas at Hong Kong jewellery shop
Travel Industry Council executive director Joseph Tung Yao-chung said the regulatory body had demanded a report from the local travel agent involved, Tian Ma International (Hong Kong) Travel, which so far had refused to comment.
Tung met eight members of Miao’s family, including his wife, daughter and son-in-law, who arrived in the city last night and checked into a hotel in Yau Ma Tei with the help of the council and Tourism Commission.
They were expected to meet police and identify the body today.
Tung said they were tired and in poor spirits.
