'Only My Brain Cells Died Over Prince Edward Raid'

A top police official has brushed off with disdain allegations of casualties during the police storming of the Prince Edward MTR station in August, saying it was his “brain cells that were killed” by such questions.

Senior superintendent Kong Wing-cheung made this comment in a six minute video uploaded to the force's Instagram account in which he and a policewoman addressed 50 questions in a rapid fire manner. All the questions were collected from the public.

The incident on August 31 was one of the most controversial police actions during the anti-government protests, when riot police officers stormed a train and hit passengers before detaining several protesters.

As reporters and first-aiders were ordered to leave the scene, it gave way to rumours that some fatalities had occurred during the operation. Police, fire service and other government agencies have repeatedly denied this.

Kong, who is seen as the public face of the police force, was asked about the rumours in the video.

"It’s my brain cells that were killed by you people,” he replied.

There were also a question relating to the gang attack in Yuen Long MTR station on July 21 last year. Kong said investigations have never stopped, and seven out of 37 people arrested had been charged.

Asked when Commissioner Chris Tang will step down, the senior superintendent said only those who fear justice would want him gone, adding that the police chief has done a fantastic job.

"There will always be a chief in the police force, and Hong Kong will always have a police force," Kong said, apparently dismissing protesters’ demand for the force to be disbanded over allegations of brutality.

He also sidestepped a question on whether the force would apologise to the public after the Court of Final Appeal refused a final bid by five policemen to challenge their convictions for beating up a pro-democracy activist during the 2014 Occupy protests.

Kong just repeated what the commissioner had said – that the force would follow the case in accordance with civil service rules and the police ordinance.