Thousands of people queuing outside Bank of China branches for commemorative Olympic banknotes were last night urged to go home as heavy rain and thunderstorms struck, raising fears for their safety.
Bank officials called on people not to brave the downnpour, which prompted amber rainstorm and thunderstorm warnings to be issued at 11.25pm.
They said a security firm would be engaged to register people on the queues, who would be notified of new sales arrangements.
But the emergency arrangements did not prevent the crowd from getting a drenching.
Registrations did not begin until after 1am, starting with To Kwa Wan and Central, and were to progress to other sites later.
In To Kwa Wan a soggy crowd estimated at 800 strong grew restless and began chanting for BOC to issue them with numbers.
Collectors, students, housewives, retired workers and people from the mainland began queueing at about 8am outside the six BOC branches in Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories where the complete package of notes were to go on sale more than 48 hours later. Some said they had been paid thousands of dollars to stand in the queues.
