Man suspected of stabbing police officer arrested on flight
HONG KONG: A man suspected of stabbing a Hong Kong police officer in the shoulder during a protest was arrested on board a flight that was about to take off for London, police said yesterday.
Press photo and video images on Wednesday captured the moment a masked man wearing a dark blue T-shirt a acked the officer during protests sparked by Beijing imposing a sweeping new security law on the financial hub.
Thousands defied a ban on rallies to voice opposition to the law on Wednesday with police using water cannon, pepper spray and tear gas to disperse protesters blocking roads.
“During the early hours of July 2, a 24-yo man surnamed Wong was arrested at the airport on the suspicion of wounding,” police said in a statement.
A police source, requesting anonymity to speak openly, said the man was pulled from Cathay Pacific flight CX251 to London, moments before it was due to leave the departure gate.
“He bought a ticket last minute. He was the only passenger on the flight to have purchased a ticket so late and had no checkin baggage with him,” the source told AFP.
The flight was delayed for nearly an hour according to Hong Kong International Airport’s record.
Police said seven officers were injured and more than 370 people were arrested on Wednesday. The stabbed officer was a acked as he tried to make an arrest, police said. Three others were injured when a man flying a Hong Kong independence flag rammed his motorbike into a group of officers in a scene that was captured on mobile phone.