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Police pepper spray a man who is armed with a meat clever in Yau Ma Tei. Photo: Handout

Police pepper spray cleaver-wielding man after attack on busy Yau Ma Tei street

Somalian man arrested after a Pakistani is attacked with the weapon

Police officers used pepper spray to subdue an African asylum seeker who is suspected of attacking a Pakistani man with a meat cleaver on a busy thoroughfare in Yau Ma Tei on Saturday afternoon.

A police source said the attack came after the Somalian man became emotional after being refused by a prostitute.

At around 3pm on Temple Street, an officer from the Emergency Unit drew his gun and aimed at the Somalian man three metres away, who was in red shirt and with the cleaver in hand.

Officers approach the attacker. Photo: Handout

“Drop down your knife, calm down! Drop it!” the armed officer in plain clothes said, while a fellow officer in uniform guarded him with a shield.

The attacker did not obey the command and kept waving the weapon, yelling: “Hit me! Hit me!”

The constable with the shield moved closer to the man and used pepper spray on him. The attacker, who is understood to be an asylum seeker, was subdued and sent to Kwong Wah Hospital for medical checks.

A police source with knowledge of the matter said the Somalian man went to a den in a building on Temple Street looking to hire a prostitute before the attack.

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“The prostitute asked him to pay first but he did not have money for the service,” the force insider said. “He became very emotional as the prostitute refused to serve him. He went to the kitchen and picked up a knife. He then changed to a [meat cleaver], rushed to the street and attacked the Pakistani man who just passed by.”

The Pakistani victim, who is also an asylum seeker, sustained injuries to his hands and shoulders and was rushed to Queen Elizabeth Hospital for treatment.

The prostitute was not injured.

A police spokeswoman said a passer-by reported the case to police at 3.18pm.

The man was arrested on possession of an offensive weapon and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Yau Ma Tei has been a popular hub for ethnic minorities in the city.

Last October, police fired four shots at two local-born Nepali men who were attacking another man with machetes at the intersection of Nanking Street and Parkes Street.

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