Last Week in Reality

Sat 5

Plucking Hell A 44-year-old man cooks and eats wild mushrooms he picked near Yuen Long Tai Tong village. Two hours later he is sent to Pok Oi Hospital to be treated for abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea. The Department of Health urges the public to refrain from picking wild mushrooms in the countryside or in parks for consumption.

Sun 6

Monkey Business Nine monkeys sneak into the swimming pool of Po Leung Kuk Siu Hon Sum Primary School in Sha Tin at noon. Some dive into the water by jumping off the surrounding fences. The temperature reached a high of 33°C that day, and a witness suggests that they were just trying to cool off.

Mon 7

Slappy Bird At around 11pm, an 85-year-old man sees his 13-year-old son is still playing video games instead of getting ready for bed. He scolds his son, who talks back. The father slaps his son across the face and the boy’s face and neck swell up. The son calls the police, who arrest the father for suspected child abuse. The boy is taken to hospital.

Tue 8

Snake Snooze A foot-long baby python is found nestling on the dashboard of a motorcycle in Happy Valley. The owner of the vehicle goes to retrieve his motorcycle at around 8am to head to work and finds the reptile slumbering under the cover. He calls the police, who seek assistance from reptile expert “Snake King Fook.” He explains that the snake was born not long ago and that it probably lost its way. It takes the expert several minutes to retrieve the baby python, which has moved and is hiding inside the engine.

Wed 9

Holey Water At around 2pm, a Ngau Tau Kok street collapses under the weight of a water delivery truck. The front of the truck gets stuck in a five-meter-deep hole. A tow truck driver arrives and stands at the edge of the hole, but that section collapses as well, and he falls into the muddy water. Nearby construction workers lower a cable to pull him out. At 5pm police bring a crane to lift the truck out of the hole, and one of the bottles of water that was in the truck is used to rinse the mud off the tow truck driver.

Thu 10

Thigh Thief At 2am, a 32-year-old man taking a minibus from Mong Kok to Kwai Chung falls asleep with his iPhone 6 Plus nestled between his legs. The passenger sitting next to him grabs the phone as he leaves, but a 33-year-old man spots the attempted theft and wakes the phone’s owner. The two passengers alight together to chase the thief and tackle him to the ground. During the fight, the thief bites the 33-year-old. Police arrive and arrest the thief.

Fri 11

Taxi Dangle A taxi in Kowloon Bay drops a passenger off at 8am and tries to turn around to exit the car park. The driver mistakes the way out and does not see a flight of stairs until he drives onto them, leaving the car stuck and dangling over the top of the stairs. Staff from a nearby building get a car jack to hold the car in place and a tow truck is able to recover the car.