No one injured as two suspects seen fleeing the building’s premises after apparently igniting a rubbish bin on a day when a controversial copyright bill was to be discussed
DANNY.MOK@SCMP.COM
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 10 December, 2015, 9:44am
UPDATED : Thursday, 10 December, 2015, 10:22am
The incident happened at around 8.30pm last night outside the city’s legislative chamber. The moment of the explosion, captured on video. Photos: K.Y. Cheng, screenshot via TMHK
A police manhunt was under way on Thursday for two suspects involved in an explosion last night outside the Legislative Council building where a rally - which had been cancelled - was due to take place against the controversial copyright bill.
Two men in surgical masks were seen igniting objects and hurling them into a rubbish bin in the demonstration zone outside Legco in Admiralty at about 8.30pm yesterday, police said.
A fire ignited inside the bin, followed by an explosion. The pair were seen fleeing towards Tamar Park, police said.
READ MORE: Hong Kong legislature forced to push back copyright bill debate over lack of lawmakers
Police investigating the explosion outside Legco on Thursday. Photo: K.Y. Cheng
“We believed the explosive device was a modified gas canister,” said Chief Inspector Chan Chung-kuen of Hong Kong Island regional crime unit. “Some of what had happened was captured by Legco security cameras.”
No one was reported injured in the case, which was being called an act of arson. There was no damage aside from the charred bin.
A container of butane commonly used for mobile stoves was left near the bin, along with a deformed plastic container of medical alcohol and burned paper.
A witness at the site said he heard a noise and saw about five men wearing black clothes fleeing before the explosion.
He said: “Then I saw a rubbish bin on fire … there was a ‘bang’ four or five minutes later followed by a strong gas odour. The bin’s cover flew up about 30cm.”
The premises had been surrounded by people protesting a copyright bill. Photo: K.Y. Cheng
Another witness described a flame in the bin followed by an explosion, causing the rubbish inside it to “fly all around”. He was among about a dozens protesters lingering within the area despite the a rally against a proposed new copyright law earlier being cancelled.
Shortly after the explosion, a nine-second-long video clip showing the bin on fire and the explosion was uploaded on YouTube by social media site TMHK.
Asked whether the video clip could help in the police probe, Chan said he could no speculate about who might have been involved as an investigation was ongoing.
The pair seen fleeing the scene were each 1.7-metre-tall and of slim build. One was said to be wearing a dark-coloured jacket and a backpack, while the other wore a light-coloured jacket and dark-coloured pants.
READ MORE: Hong Kong copyright bill explained: Why are people so concerned about this?
A police hotline at 6803 0207 was set up to collect information from any members of the public who might have knowledge of what happened.
Several organisations opposing the copyright bill, due for continued Legco discussion next week, planned to stage a rally at 7pm at the site. Organisers had expected some 5,000 people to show up before the rally was cancelled.
The controversial Copyright Amendment Bill was to be discussed in the city’s legislature yesterday. But it was delayed as there were too few lawmakers in attendance.
Many opponents viewed the bill as clamping down on freedom of expression and creation, instead of strengthening cultural industries, as the government and some industries had argued.
In a statement, Legislative Council president Jasper Tsang Yok-sing expressed his grave concern over the explosion, which he condemned. He urged law enforcement agencies to take swift and decisive action to arrest the culprits.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1889157/manhunt-begins-after-explosion-outside-hong-kong
