Knife-wielding gang steals HK$900,000 after victims crash car in Yuen Long

A gang of knife-wielding robbers attacked a man and stole more than HK$900,000 in a daylight assault on a car on Monday morning in northern Hong Kong.

The three men inside the car had tried to escape their attackers, but crashed into the back of a truck.

At about 9.45am, the gang of about eight approached the three men in the seven-seater car, which was parked on Yuen Long Tung Tai Street, Yuen Long. The trio had with them a cash-filled bag.

According to police, one of the victims struggled with the robbers before one of his companions managed to drive the car away.

Four men with triad links arrested over petrol bomb attacks on police

A police source said the robbers, carrying knives and wooden rods, chased the car for a short distance before it hit a road sign and slammed into the back of a truck on Tai Lee Street.

He said the gang caught up, attacked and injured one of the victims and snatched the bag before fleeing on foot.

“The man suffered arm injuries, and a bag carrying hundreds of thousands of dollars was stolen in the incident,” a police spokeswoman said.

Police mounted a search, but arrested no one. By early afternoon, officers were still searching for the assailants.

A police source said officers were told the bag contained more than HK$900,000 (US$114,700) in cash but they were still waiting to confirm the exact amount.

The injured man was taken to Pok Oi Hospital in Yuen Long, and later transferred to Tuen Mun Hospital.

In recent years there have been several high-profile robberies on the streets of Hong Kong, with large sums of money lost.

Last month, two robbers attacked a 53-year-old man outside Whampoa MTR station in Hung Hom and made off with his backpack containing HK$4 million. But pedestrians stopped one of them after a brief chase and all the money was recovered. Police arrested the other man the next day in To Kwa Wan.

In September 2018, four robbers escaped with US$740,000 and HK$363,000 after ambushing two jewellery store workers and slashing them with knives on Hok Yuen Street East, Hung Hom.

The previous month, a gang of robbers attacked three employees from a currency exchange shop and escaped with a suitcase holding HK$10 million. Seven men were later arrested, but no money was recovered.

And in February 2018, five men were robbed of two suitcases containing more than 450 million Japanese yen (US$4 million) from a money changer on Carnarvon Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. Police arrested three men and recovered the money after intercepting the getaway car on a flyover outside Mei Foo Sun Chuen housing estate in Lai Chi Kok later that day. They arrested another three men later.