Six hurt in Causeway Bay acid attack
Another acid attack has struck fear into Saturday night shoppers - this time in crowded Causeway Bay.
A woman and her male friend were seriously injured when a bottle of corrosive liquid was thrown from 543 Lockhart Road onto a pavement in a pedestrianised section next to the Sogo department store just after 10pm. Parts of the woman's face and chest were badly injured, with burns covering nearly 20 per cent of her body. Four other women were wounded. The injured were sent to hospitals for treatment.
The attack left Lily Lee, who lives nearby, worried about the safety of her children. 'We walk on this street every day. I don't know if the attack was random or targeting someone. It'd be really scary if someone just threw acid from the building,' the 30-year-old said.
The brownish bottle containing the acid landed in front of a sports store.
Police cordoned off the street, combed shops for clues and searched people going in and out of the building.
Superintendent Titus Wong Koon-ho, of Wan Chai police, said officers would look into whether the incident was linked to three acid attacks on shoppers in pedestrianised streets in Mong Kok in which 101 people were hurt, and another last month in Sham Shui Po.
'At the moment, we can't see whether tonight's incident has anything to do with the Kowloon incidents,' Wong said.
He also said it was too early to say whether the attack was an act of revenge targeting particular people.
Two of the three attacks in Mong Kok over the past year took place on Saturday evenings.
Causeway Bay was particularly busy last night with people celebrating the Hong Kong soccer team's victory over Japan in the East Asian Games final at the Hong Kong Stadium in So Kon Po, and with visitors to the annual Hong Kong Brands and Products Expo in Victoria Park, which opened its doors to the public yesterday.
Criminologist Dennis Wong Sing-wing said after the third Mong Kok attack that it was likely the same person committed all three crimes. Saturdays at precisely 5pm were chosen for the first two attacks. The third, on Monday June 8, was on a dark and rainy day, presumably so evidence would be difficult to gather.
