Two transit passengers on way to Beijing bypassed required security checks on Friday
JEFFIE.LAM@SCMP.COM
UPDATED : Sunday, 22 May, 2016, 9:18pm
The departure hall at Hong Kong International Airport. Photo: Dickson Lee
Hong Kong’s Airport Authority has confirmed a significant security breach involving two wayward transit passengers from Indonesia who made their way to the departure area, bypassing the required security checks.
Lawmakers have demanded an explanation and security evaluation of the breach on Friday, which was kept under wraps until sources leaked it to media over the weekend.
A source told the Post that the two passengers had boarded the airport terminal’s internal train after arriving from Surabaya, Indonesia in the afternoon. They were supposed to get off at the arrival area and proceed to either the transfer desk or immigration counter for their next flight to Beijing, and pass through security checks.
They did not get off the train, and remained on board as it proceeded to the departure area after picking up departing passengers at the next stop.
According to established procedures, passengers must first go through security screening before boarding a transit flight in Hong Kong, even if they have already been screened at the point of departure.
A spokesman said the Airport Authority had been notified about the breach at 3:30pm on Friday.
“The security officers were asked to stop the two passengers at the departure area and arrange for them to go through the security check,” the spokesman said. The two wayward travellers were allowed to board their transit flight after they were given the all-clear.
But the spokesman sidestepped a question on whether the security breach was reported to police or the government.
Democratic Party lawmaker James To Kun-sun, a member of the legislature’s security panel, described the incident as “unacceptable” as the security staff should have asked the pair to leave the train on time.
“There would be a systematic fault if the existing security system failed to spot the two remaining on the train. If not, the authority may need to explain if there was any human error,” he said.
The authority should clarify what happened and inform the public if any remedial measures are taken, To added.
Airport Authority board member Steven Ho Chun-yin, a lawmaker from the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, also called on the authority to conduct a security evaluation and further brief its ground staff to ensure there would be no repeat of such a breach.
Security at the airport has been in the spotlight recently after Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying was accused of pressuring airport staff to deliver his daughter’s left luggage from a non-restricted area to the closed off departure zone. Both the authority and Leung denied any security breach.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1950991/hong-kong-airport-security-breach-exposed
