Petrol bombs explode outside home of Hong Kong man beset by gambling debts as he plays mahjong with family inside
- The firebombs exploded at the Tuen Mun estate just after 10.30pm on Monday night, with neighbours helping extinguish the blaze
- Police source says flat’s 31-year-old tenant had lost more than HK$300,000 gambling online and recently received messages demanding repayment
A debt-ridden Hong Kong man and seven family members escaped unscathed after two petrol bombs exploded outside their flat in a Tuen Mun public housing block on Monday night.
The 31-year-old and his relatives were playing mahjong when the blaze erupted in the public corridor outside his 20th-floor flat in Wu King Estate’s Wu Pik House just after 10.30pm.
Family members inside the flat at the time of the firebombing included his wife, parents and two children, according to a police source, who said the fire was extinguished by the family and neighbours before emergency personnel arrived.
One of the neighbours, a 62-year-old man who broke the glass of a fire alarm and used a hose to help douse the flames, suffered a minor cut to his hand and was bandaged at the scene.
The wooden doors and security gates of the family’s flat and the adjacent unit were blackened in the fire, according to police.