Hong Kong fire officials worried protesters could follow online petrol bomb recipes with self-igniting material used in cluster bombs

Chemical ‘recipes’ on the internet could help anti-government protesters concoct more devastating weapons – but none found so far

Fire department responded to 319 fires between June 9 and October 1, with 37 incidents involving firebombs thrown by protesters

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A protester accidentally sets himself on fire while throwing a petrol bomb in Yau Ma Tei on October 01. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 12:00pm, 7 Oct 2019Updated: 2:36pm, 7 Oct 2019

Hong Kong fire officials have voiced concern about online instructions for petrol bombs that suggest using a self-igniting material that would make the explosives even more dangerous and unpredictable.

In an interview with the Post, experts with the Fire Services Department warned that chemical “recipes” circulating on the internet could help anti-government protesters concoct stronger petrol bombs – also called firebombs, bottle bombs or Molotov cocktails – which they have used for months to intimidate their opponents, ignite fires and destroy property.

The department said it responded to 319 fires that needed to be extinguished between June 9 and October 1, as the protest crisis erupted across Hong Kong. It said 56 per cent of the cases, or 178 fires, were classified as suspicious and 37 incidents involved petrol bombs thrown by protesters.

Ng Hin-wah, the assistant divisional officer of the department’s hazardous materials, also known as hazmat, said the online bomb-making instructions could help protesters create more powerful explosives with highly flammable ingredients, prompting the authority to draft rescue guidelines in response to different kinds of chemicals.

Protesters throw petrol bombs at police officers in Admiralty on September 29. Photo: Sam Tsang

Ng said some of the petrol bomb recipes being spread online called for the use of a pyrophoric material, which is nearly impossible to extinguish and is used for hand grenades and cluster bombs, among other weapons. He said so far no petrol bombs had been found with the material.

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