Hong Kong police classify case as attempted murder after man set ablaze

The Hong Kong police said on Tuesday that they are investigating an attempted murder case after a man was set on fire by rioters.

The 57-year-old man was poured with suspected inflammable liquid and set into fire by a culprit on a footbridge in the Ma On Shan area on Monday, the police said in a statement.

When police officers arrived, the man was found sustaining multiple burn injuries. He was admitted to Prince of Wales Hospital in critical condition.

The culprit fled the scene before the police arrived. Active investigations by the Commercial Crime Bureau are underway, the statement added.

Condemning the attack as "totally inhumane," Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Carrie Lam said Monday evening that the rioters would never succeed in achieving their so-called political demand by hurting ordinary people, and their violence would be denounced by the whole society.

On Monday, rioters wreaked havoc across Hong Kong by paralyzing traffic, setting fire at various locations and assaulting residents who did not agree with them.

Rioters continued to disrupt traffic on Tuesday morning, blocking roads and obstructing railway tracks in multiple locations.

Lam said the HKSAR government will not yield to pressure from escalating violence that is destroying Hong Kong.

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