A Catholic church worker was among passengers severely injured by attackers at a West Rail MTR station on Sunday night.
Hours after an anti-extradition march ended in police-protester clashes on Hong Kong Island, a group of armed assailants battered residents, journalists and a lawmaker in Yuen Long. Forty-five people were injured, but – as of Monday morning – police have not made any arrests.
Galileo Cheng, 34, said his philtrum muscle on his upper lip was torn by a bamboo stick. He was left with multiple bruises on his back, lower left arm and upper right arm, with swelling on his left shoulder.
Cheng was admitted to the Tuen Mun Hospital emergency room at 00:56am on Monday for treatment and to clean his wounds, but owing to the number of injured people being admitted, his lip injury could not be dealt with immediately.
He stayed in hospital overnight and requested to leave in the morning. He left the hospital at around 10am and went to a private doctor who sewed up his upper lip.
Cheng left work in Central on Sunday night. After changing MTR lines at Nam Cheong, he got on a West Rail Line train towards Tuen Mun.
The train stopped at Yuen Long at 10:44pm, where unknown men dressed in white occupied the platform. Passengers on the platform said people in white were attacking passersby and urged others to come out to the concourse to help, according to Cheng.
Cheng then began live-streaming the chaos on his phone.
”Warning: Graphic images – Click to view“
“I could see blood on the ground of the paid area of the concourse,” he said.
At 11pm, people inside the paid area were shouting at the men in white across the barriers who were threatening to attack.
A Stand News reporter, Gwyneth Ho, went outside the paid area and was seen on live streams being attacked by the mob.
Cheng said he went outside to try to carry Ho away but was attacked by at least five other people. Cheng grabbed her in an attempt to escape, but was attacked again by two other men in white, he said.
“The attack was coordinated with someone giving orders at the scene, and they were not afraid of being recognised and photos of them being taken,” Cheng said.
“The reporter did not have a helmet or other equipment. She may have been in intensive care if someone did not try to help her,” he added.
Cheng said that, when he was at the hospital, a police officer arrived at around 6am and tried to ask him questions. He said that, before he could answer, doctors told the officer to leave.
Multiple injuries
Separately, political group Demosisto said that one of its members was attacked near Yuen Long station, resulting in two head wounds: a 6-centimetre-long gash on the top of the head and a 3-centimetre-long wound at the back.
The Demosisto member also suffered injuries to his back, chest, finger, arm, and up to 15 red marks could be seen on his body. He is receiving treatment in hospital.
Meanwhile, footage shared by netizens on Sunday showed a woman on the floor of the MTR station receiving medical treatment. The Hospital Authority later confirmed that she was not pregnant, despite claims by netizens.
A pregnant woman receiving medical attention at Yuen Long MTR Station, presumably got attacked by thugs. from r/HongKong
A former TVB journalist was also left bloodied by the attackers.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam condemned the violence in Yuen Long on Monday, after first criticising protesters who defaced the national emblem at Sai Wan’s China Liaison Office.
