Face to face with accused MTR arsonist
An MTR passenger recalled yesterday how he had been little more than a metre away when he caught a glimpse of the man accused of starting a fire on a train.
Fung Kwong-chung, an engineer travelling on the Admiralty-bound train, said he saw the right side of the man's face for one second in the crowded train after another passenger had yelled at the man not to ignite a bottle.
'I was only one and a half feet away from him,' Mr Fung told the Court of First Instance. He identified the man as Yim Kam-chung, who is accused of starting the fire on January 5 last year shortly after the train left Tsim Sha Tsui.
Yim, who has pleaded not guilty to arson, is representing himself.
Mr Fung said after the first carriage became engulfed in fire and thick smoke, he and other passengers scrambled to carriages further away. He said the carriage was so noisy he could hardly hear announcements by the train's driver.
Kwai Sze-kit, another passenger, told the court last Friday that he saw Yim using a lighter to ignite a bottle wrapped in a towel. He said he immediately shouted at him not to light a fire. He also tried to extinguish the burning bottle by stepping on it, to no avail.
Mr Fung said he offered police his assistance with the investigation and attended identity parades the next day and on January 7. On the second occasion he identified Yim.
No one was injured in the blaze, which was put out at Admiralty.
Yim was arrested after the Correctional Service Department received a letter the following day containing details of the alleged arson attack. He told police under caution he was the arsonist.
Detective Chief Inspector Lau Tat-keung told the jury he immediately sent a team of plain-clothes police officers to Admiralty MTR station upon learning of the fire. He also asked the accident and emergency units of public hospitals to be on the lookout for patients with burns who could not explain their injuries.
The case continues today before Mr Justice Louis Tong Po-sun.
