4-year-old mainland Chinese girl accidentally hit in face when 10 assailants attack group of diners at Hong Kong restaurant
- Young visitor suffers facial injuries when gang of 10 men storms Tsim Sha Tsui restaurant and assault diners at nearby table
- Attackers used retractable baton, scissors, chairs and other weapons in attack on trio, source says
A four-year-old mainland Chinese girl has suffered facial injuries after being accidentally hit when about 10 attackers rushed into a Hong Kong restaurant and assaulted three other diners.
Police said the girl was eating a late-night meal with her 30-year-old mother and their family friend at the Kimberly Road restaurant in the bustling Tsim Sha Tsui shopping district when the gang attacked diners at a nearby table at around 12.10am on Wednesday.
“Some of the assailants were armed with weapons such as a retractable baton and a pair of scissors, and they attacked three male diners,” a source familiar with the case said.
“During the assault, one of the attackers accidentally injured the girl at a nearby table. She was slightly injured in the left cheek.”
The girl had only just arrived in the city from the mainland earlier on Tuesday.
A video posted online showed some of the culprits hurling plastic chairs and utensils. One was seen holding a mobile phone and stamping on victims.
One of the attackers, wearing a white down jacket, was seen to hit a victim several times with a hard object, leaving bloodstains on his sleeves.
The attackers fled in two cars before police arrived. Officers mounted a search but made no arrests.
The restaurant was left in disarray, with tables overturned and chairs, food, bowls and plates scattered on the floor.
Emergency services personnel bandaged the girl’s face at the scene before she was taken to Kwong Wah Hospital in Yau Ma Tei for treatment.
The three injured diners, aged between 19 and 26, suffered head and arm injuries and they were rushed to Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
Another source said the attack could be a case of targeted revenge.
Officers from the Yau Tsim criminal investigation unit are investigating the incident.
A visitor from Singapore was attacked last month after a noise complaint at an outdoor dining spot in Yau Ma Tei.
The 54-year-old man, his wife and their son complained to a waiter at a dai pai dong in Woosung Street Temporary Cooked Food Hawker Bazaar about another 54-year-old man who was talking loudly with friends.
Police said there was no trouble in the restaurant and the family left just after dining.
But, as the family waited for a taxi in the area, the man they had complained about struck the father on the head with a glass cup and fled on foot. The family gave chase and intercepted the man before police arrived.
Police handled 3,636 reports of wounding and serious assault across the city last year, an increase of 22 cases compared with 2022.
