Hong Kong police investigate acid attacks

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-06-09 15:48

HONG KONG -- A bottle of acid thrown into a crowd in one of Hong Kong's popular shopping districts injured 24 pedestrians, police said Tuesday, the third in a series of attacks that have injured nearly 100 people.

None of the victims were seriously burned when a bottle filled with a corrosive liquid was thrown at pedestrians in the busy Mong Kok district on Monday night.

Police were investigating all three incidents and have posted a 900,000 Hong Kong dollar ($116,097) reward for information leading to an arrest.

On the same street last month, 30 people suffered burns when two plastic bottles filled with acid were thrown down into a crowd. Another 46 were injured in a similar attack around the area in December.

Police superintendent Edward Leung told the South China Morning Post, Hong Kong's English-language newspaper, that it was possible the same person had carried out all three attacks.

It was not immediately clear if security cameras recently installed to monitor the pedestrian area in response to the two earlier attacks would help identify the assailant.

Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang also condemned the latest attack Tuesday, saying it was "cold blooded and evil" and that the assailant was "scum of the society."