Source:
https://scmp.com/article/429472/man-blows-his-flat-after-boiling-chemical

Man blows up his flat after boiling chemical

A man was critically injured yesterday in an explosion that ripped apart a public housing unit in Tuen Mun in what appeared to be an attempted suicide.

Police believe Fok Kai-yat, 26 - a City University graduate - caused the explosion by boiling hydrogen peroxide in his 15th-floor flat in Tai Hing Estate shortly after 2.40am in an attempt to kill himself.

Two family members and a neighbour were also injured by flying debris.

Mr Fok, who was living with his brother, was alone in the flat when the explosion occurred.

Detective Chan Fei-hung said the explosion was so powerful that it levelled the kitchen wall and the wall separating the flat from the corridor. It also blasted a big hole in the balcony wall.

He said they suspected the man was trying to kill himself but stressed that officers were still investigating what led him to boil the chemical.

The man's 57-year-old mother and elder sister, 31, who share another flat on the same floor, raced to Mr Fok's flat after the explosion and saw him staggering out covered with blood.

Police said Mr Fok then tried to jump off the building but was stopped by the two women. He was later admitted to Tuen Mun Hospital in critical condition and was still in a coma late last night.

His mother, sister and the injured neighbour, aged 52, were sent home after doctors treated cuts to their hands.

Police took away a badly damaged metal pot, which Inspector Chan said was used to boil the hydrogen peroxide.

A government chemist was called to the scene to help investigate, along with housing department officials.

Though there was no fire, firemen temporarily evacuated 500 residents to allow officers from the housing department to examine the building. They found it structurally sound.

Mr Fok, who has no history of mental illness, was jailed for 18 months by a District Court judge in 1999 for possessing three stun guns.