Hong Kong police chief defends officers arriving 35 minutes after first reports of Yuen Long mob violence against protesters and MTR passengers
- Review of manpower and response times to be held, says Stephen Lo, following outcry
- Commissioner of Police denies colluding with white-clad mob, which has been linked to triad gangs
The Hong Kong police chief admitted on Monday that officers arrived 35 minutes after receiving the first report of attacks on protesters at Yuen Long railway station, but he denied colluding with triads over the mob violence.
Commissioner of Police Stephen Lo Wai-chung said that riot police arrived late on Sunday night because the force’s capacity had been stretched across Hong Kong Island dealing with protests, and promised a review of manpower and response times.
His comments came as hundreds of social workers marched on Monday afternoon against the “police’s failure to protect Yuen Long residents from thugs”, before handing over evidence they had gathered of gang members assaulting residents.
They also lodged police misconduct complaints at the district’s police station, the scene of a separate protest organised by pan-democratic lawmakers earlier on Monday.
A spokesman for Yoho Mall, which is next to the station and where some of Sunday’s attacks took place, said mall officials could not get through to police when they tried to report the incident.
