A robbery suspect was captured in an MTR tunnel near Tin Hau station last night after spending eight hours hiding underground from police.
Hundreds of commuters were stranded when the man jumped on to the tracks at Fortress Hill station just after 2pm, causing a stretch of the Island line to be shut down for an hour. He was initially thought to have escaped.
However, more chaos ensued at 10pm when he was spotted by a train driver clinging to the side of a tunnel in Tin Hau. The line between Tin Hau and North Point was shut down again for 15 minutes before the man, 25, was cornered by police and captured.
He collapsed and was taken to Tang Shiu Kin Hospital in Wan Chai, where he was arrested.
A Mass Transit Railway Corporation spokesman said about 800 passengers were affected by the first shutdown. Some were stranded on trains, while others had to evacuate Tin Hau, Fortress Hill and North Point stations.
The incident started at 2.08pm at Fortress Hill station when police tried to arrest the suspect over a handbag robbery at the Provident Centre in Wharf Road, North Point, early yesterday morning. The victim later received a call from a man seeking money for the return of her bag.