Mers Scare At West Kowloon Station

The MTR Corporation has launched a clean-up operation and pulled one of its high-speed trains out of service after a passenger arriving at West Kowloon was found to have symptoms of Middle East respiratory syndrome.

The man, described only as a "foreign national" was stopped by health officials after arriving in Hong Kong from Guangzhou at about 6.20pm on Sunday. He had a fever.

The MTR Corp said it cleaned and disinfected areas of the station the passenger had passed through. The train he travelled on was taken out of service later in the evening.

The passenger and a companion were taken to hospital by ambulance.

The corporation has told staff members who came into contact with the passenger to wear face masks and see a doctor if they feel unwell. It advises any passenger who was on the train – service G6537 – to seek medical help if they fall ill.

The Centre for Health Protection has not issued any notice of a suspected Mers case.