No Foreign Objects Found On Hung Hom Track: MTR

A top MTR official said on Wednesday that they haven't found any suspicious objects on the tracks in Hung Hom where a train derailed on Tuesday, but revealed that they had discovered one more crack in the rail during overnight inspections.

The railway's chief of operations engineering, Tony Lee, who spoke on a RTHK programme said repair workers haven't found any foreign objects on the tracks that could have caused the derailment.

This was confirmed by a top official from the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) who also took part in the Millenium programme.

Eight people were injured when the train, which was entering the station, went off the tracks during Tuesday morning's rush hour.

Some pro-Beijing media had speculated that sabotage could have caused the accident. The rail operator had been targeted by anti-extradition bill protesters who had damaged several stations over the last few weeks.

Lee told the RTHK programme that workers had found a fourth crack at the accident site during overnight inspections. He said it was about 1 to 2 millimetres wide.

The MTR official said it's more likely that the cracks were formed as a result of the incident, but he wouldn't rule out any possibility and said he would invite experts to find out what caused the cracks.

EMSD acting assistant director Cheung Kim-ching, who took part in the programme, said two of the four damaged spots on the track had split by a 3 to 4.5 centimetres.