Update | Woman evades three levels of Hong Kong airport security
Woman was able to pass through three separate security checks without a boarding pass or a passport
Security at Hong Kong International Airport has come under fresh scrutiny after a woman was able to pass through three separate security checks without a boarding pass or passport.
A police investigation has been launched into why the 21-year-old Hong Kong resident – who is understood to suffer from a mental disability – was allowed to reach a far-flung boarding gate in Terminal 1 before being stopped.
The incident piles pressure on airport security chiefs, already at the centre of an escalating row about security protocols and abuse of power allegations over a bag being delivered to Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying’s daughter from a non-restricted to a restricted area last month.
In the early hours of yesterday, the woman evaded initial boarding pass checks, passed through an X-ray scanner and strolled past guards before using an immigration e-channel to access the departure lounge. She then took a shuttle train to gate 520.
“Initial investigations show she bypassed security at the entrance when a security guard was dealing with another traveller,’’ a source said.“She went through the X-ray check then used an e-channel for immigration clearance with her Hong Kong identity card.”
The woman, who had no bags, was finally stopped by a security guard from the Aviation Security Company (Avseco) when he found her wandering near the gate, muttering to herself, according to a source with knowledge of the incident.
She claimed she was travelling to South Korea.
Later, she was taken to the airport police station.
The woman was not formally arrested and was later picked up by her 63-year-old father.
It is understood she is a long-term out-patient of a public hospital psychiatric unit.
The Airport Authority declined to comment on the matter, while a spokesman for Avseco referred enquiries to the police.
Avseco is jointly owned by the Airport Authority and the government.
