Armed gang steals toilet rolls as panic-buying hit Hong Kong

HONG KONG: A gang of knife-wielding men jumped a delivery driver in Hong Kong and stole hundreds of toilet rolls, police said yesterday, in a city wracked by shortages caused by coronavirus panic-buying.

Police caught two of the gang of three and recovered all of the toilet paper, worth about HK$1,700 (RM911).

Footage from Now TV showed police investigators standing around multiple crates of toilet rolls outside a supermarket in Mong Kok. One of the crates was only half stacked.

Supermarket chain Wellcome called yesterday’s robbery a “senseless act”, and called on people not to bulk buy or hoard toilet rolls.

“We want to emphasise that we have sufficient toilet rolls to meet demand,“it said in a statement.

“The temporary shortage was caused by a sudden and unusual surge in demand.”

Hong Kong residents reacted with a mixture of bafflement and merriment to the heist.

One woman passing the scene of the crime, who was interviewed by local TV station iCable quipped: “I’d steal face masks, but not toilet rolls.”

The city, which has 58 confirmed coronavirus cases, is experiencing a genuine shortage of face masks.

The hysteria that has swept through Hong Kong since the coronavirus outbreak exploded on mainland China is partly fuelled by the city’s tragic recent history of confronting a deadly disease.

In 2003, 299 Hong Kong residents died of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), an outbreak that began on the mainland but was initially covered up by Beijing.

The new coronavirus outbreak also comes at a time when the city’s pro-Beijing leadership has historic low approval ratings after refusing to bow to months of angry pro-democracy protests. Authorities blamed rumours for the panic-buying and say food and household goods supplies remain stable. – Agencies