City Briefs

Asylum seekers on hunger strike to demand release

Two dozen asylum seekers in a Tuen Mun detention centre have gone on hunger strike to demand their release. Twenty-three, most from Africa, began refusing food on Monday, and another joined the hunger strike yesterday. The detainees at the Castle Peak Bay Immigration Centre are demanding they be bailed and released rather than remain in detention for immigration violations.

jail probe into inmate's mistaken release

Prison authorities have set up an inquiry into how an inmate was released from Pik Uk Prison by mistake. The 41-year-old, surnamed Cheng, was discharged on March 7, but following his release Correctional Services Department officers realised he should have been held on remand for a pending charge. Department staff took him back into custody.

beautician charged

A beauty salon operator, 52, will appear in Eastern Court today charged with improper labelling of a breast enlargement gel banned on the mainland but still legal in Hong Kong. Customs officers seized 54 bottles of the gel, known as PAAG, in her Causeway Bay salon in April last year.

crane hits truck driver

A driver, 51, was injured when a crane bucket smashed into his dump truck on a school building site in Aberdeen. The man leapt clear after the roof of the truck's cabin was hit. He is in stable condition. The crane operator told police he did not see the truck.

crewman hurt in fall

A mainland seaman, 33, was in serious condition after a fall from a container stack at the River Trade Terminal, Tuen Mun.

mark six

No one won first prize last night. The numbers were 1, 4, 12, 35, 39 and 46. The extra number was 14. Three tickets each won second prize of HK$748,535. Third prize paid HK$71,285.