When I Was Young

Posted: 09 June 2009 1336 hrs

Shoppers walk in the busy district of Mongkok in Hong Kong.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong police were Tuesday scouring CCTV footage for clues as to who tossed a bottle of acid from a building onto one of the city's busiest shopping streets, the third such attack in six months.

The attack in the Mongkok district of the city on Monday evening injured 24 people, including a four-year-old girl, who all suffered from burns to their limbs and faces.

"We are still investigating the incident and do not rule out the possibility that the same person or people were behind the three attacks," a police spokesman told AFP.

In December, 46 people were injured when two bottles of corrosive liquid were tossed down from a building onto the street. Another similar attack occurred near the same spot in May, injuring 30 pedestrians.

No one has so far been arrested over the attacks.

The latest incident came just hours after a new surveillance system was installed in the district, one of the most densely-populated parts of the world. The system was brought in as a result of the previous attacks.

The police are offering a reward of 900,000 Hong Kong dollars (115,000 US) for information leading to the arrest of those involved.

Hong Kong's chief executive Donald Tsang on Tuesday condemned the attacks.

"This was a cold-blooded and evil act. These people are the dregs of society," Tsang said.

He pledged that the police would do all they could to catch the culprits as soon as possible.

- AFP/il

From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.