Hong Kong security guard stabbed to death at city water treatment facility

A security guard who recently started work at a water treatment facility in Sha Tin was stabbed to death on Sunday, allegedly by one of his colleagues in a row over work issues.

Police said the 59-year-old victim who had worked for Sha Tin Water Treatment Works on Keng Hau Road for only five days as a substitute, had an argument with the suspect, 58, also a security guard, who had been working there for several years.

At about 6.20pm on Sunday, police received a call from the suspect, who said he had attacked his colleague with a knife. A third security guard at the site made a call at about the same time.

An ambulance crew found the man in a pool of blood in a guardroom on the site. He was confirmed dead at about 6.30pm.

Officers arrested the suspect, whose shirt was stained with blood, at the site after an initial investigation, assistant district commander of Sha Tin district Sam Chan Yan said.

A bloodstained 46cm-long knife the suspect had been using to clear branches and weeds was found at the scene.

“At least two to three fatal wounds were found on the back of the deceased’s neck and they were bone-deep,” Chan said, adding that the case involved trifling matters over work.

The third security guard did not witness what had happened, Chan said, adding that he was too scared to stay to see the pair in a fight and ran away.

The suspect was detained on suspicion of murder on Sunday night.

Sha Tin Water Treatment Works is the largest water treatment works in Hong Kong in terms of daily output capacity. It provides treated water supplies to Sha Tin, central Kowloon and part of Hong Kong Island. It was first commissioned in May 1964 with a treated water output of 364,000 cubic metres per day.