Hong Kong police search city for attackers after knife murder of elderly man
- Victim, 70, attacked just after leaving home in Yuen Long for work early on Wednesday, police say
- Another man suffers slash wounds to leg and stomach in separate knife attack by up to six people in North Point
Police have launched a manhunt after an elderly Hong Kong man died in a knife attack near his home as he walked to work before daybreak on Wednesday.
A source familiar with the case said preliminary investigations suggested more than one attacker could be involved and that the attack was targeted.
He added officers were looking for potential motives for the killing.
Emergency personnel found the 70-year-old man, who suffered multiple cut wounds, lying unconscious in a pool of blood on the pavement.
The victim, who was on his way to his job at a nearby market, was taken to Pok Oi Hospital, but later died.
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The incident happened outside an HSBC branch on Yuen Long Hong Lok Road in the New Territories near its junction with Castle Peak Road at around 3.43am.
Members of the Police Tactical Unit were deployed to the area to help search for evidence.
They were seen to search a rubbish bin on the street and a nearby alley.
The murder scene was about 100 metres (328ft) from the block of flats where the victim lived.
“An initial investigation suggests the victim was attacked by a non-Chinese man with a knife,” a police spokesman said.
Plain-clothes officers have also checked security camera footage in the area.
The police spokesman said about 11am that no one had been arrested in connection with the case.
Detectives from the organised crime and triad bureau are investigating the killing.
Police said a postmortem would be carried out on the victim.
Officers also appealed for witnesses or for anyone who had information that could help the inquiry to contact 2860 4053 or 9572 0968.
In a separate incident, a 22-year-old suspected triad member wanted by police in connection with an unlawful detention case in January was traced after he was injured in an attack by a group of five to six knife-wielding men on King’s Road in North Point at about 1am on Wednesday.
Police said he managed to escape his attackers by jumping into a taxi.
The man, who suffered slash wounds to his left leg and stomach, reported the incident to police after he went to Queen Mary Hospital in Pok Fu Lam for treatment.
A source familiar with the case said the man was a suspected Sun Yee On triad member.
The injured man was under bedside guard by police in hospital on Wednesday afternoon.
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The source said the 22-year-old was wanted in connection with an unlawful detention after a man, 19, was bundled into a white Toyota Alphard MPV in Mong Kok by a group of knife-wielding men in the early hours of January 16.
The Alphard was blocked by other vehicles, which forced it to veer left and hit a double-decker bus that had pulled over at a bus stop on Nathan Road.
The source said the abduction was linked to a dispute over cash from drug trafficking activity.
A video posted online showed the car mounted the pavement and travelled off-road for a short distance before it returned to Nathan Road, where it ran a red light and sped off in the direction of Sham Shui Po.
The source said the victim, believed to be a Wo Shing Wo triad member, was ordered by his captors to strip so they could take nude photographs of him.
He was released several hours later.
Police have arrested three people in connection with the incident.
Police handled 30 reports of murder last year, up from 23 logged in 2021.
The force said 15 of the 30 incidents involved domestic or family violence. All 30 cases were closed.
