Concrete chunks hurled onto northern Hong Kong motorway damage cars, puncture tyres

Thirty-five concrete chunks, some the size of a football, were hurled onto a motorway in northern Hong Kong in the early hours of Thursday, damaging six passing vehicles and puncturing their tyres.

It was the third such case in five weeks in Tai Po district, Chief Inspector Li Man-kit of the New Territories North traffic unit said on Thursday.

Condemning those behind the acts, he said: “Vehicles could run out of control and crash into others if they encountered these obstacles.”

Li said the cases were classified as criminal damage and an investigation was under way.

In the latest case, police were called in at about 4.12am on Thursday after six drivers complained their vehicles were damaged and their tyres burst after running over concrete pieces scattered on the Sheung Shui-bound Tolo Highway near Kwong Fuk Estate in Tai Po.

The vehicles included four private cars, a taxi and a delivery van. One of the cars was a Mercedes-Benz which had two tyres punctured.

Falling concrete chunks the ‘size of basketballs’ cause city traffic chaos

“Officers seized 35 concrete pieces at the scene,” Li said adding that the biggest piece was 30cm in length.

A police source said some of the chunks were described as being about the size of a “football” and “brick”. He said detectives were investigating the motive behind the act.

Police said no one was injured in the incident. Officers inspected the area, but no arrests were made.

Li said: “The concrete chunks were either hurled from a nearby footbridge or thrown out of the roadside,” he said.

Two similar incidents had happened on February 28 and 29. In one of the cases, a motorist was injured.

The force is investigating whether the three cases are linked.