Six girls in break-out from Castle Peak isolation wards

SIX teenagers with emotional problems escaped from a girls' home in Castle Peak early yesterday after subduing a female staff member.

The girls, aged between 15 and 18, also stole $820 from the victim who was one of four staff on night duty at the Wai Yee Hostel in Yeung Tsing Road where 83 girls are being kept.

A spokesman for the Social Welfare Department said the teenagers were locked in isolation wards at night because they had emotional problems.

But yesterday one of the girls claimed her room was flooded with water and when the staff member went in to check just before 1.30 am she was subdued and bound.

The girl allegedly snatched the worker's keys and released five other girls in neighbouring wards.

Police in Castle Peak are hunting the six who were seen wearing green T-shirts and blue sports trousers.

The spokesman said it was the first time force had been used in an escape from the home, which was opened in November 1991 for girls aged between 12 and 18 with emotional and behavioural problems.

''We had cases before of girls failing to return to the hostel after their home leave, reported by their parents or guardians,'' he said.

The girls are sent there under a court care and protection order and stay for an average of a year, which includes classroom study.

The spokesman said those referred to the hostel were either habitual runaways or lacked care and protection from their parents.