Officers acted properly in missing girl case, immigration chief says

The immigration chief has defended the department's frontline officers after a 10-year-old girl disappeared after crossing the border at Lo Wu alone last week.

Speaking publicly about the case for the first time, Director of Immigration Lai Tung-kwok said it was impractical to question every child at border checkpoints.

'Thousands of schoolchildren cross the border to study in Hong Kong every day and most of them make the trip alone, and I think the number of children crossing the border will continue to increase,' Mr Lai said in an RTHK interview yesterday.

'Officers are under stress from the increasing workload and under such circumstances, can our frontline staff check on every child? That is impractical,' he said.

Tai Chi-kwan sparked a 20-hour search after she crossed the border alone last week.

She went missing after being dropped off at a tutorial centre in Yau Ma Tei. She was not seen again until she was found wandering tired and hungry in a Shenzhen shopping centre by three Hongkongers who recognised her from a television report.

Mr Lai said the girl had crossed through the checkpoint when most schoolchildren made their way back to the mainland after school.