Tuen Mun Estate Residents Outraged At 'tear Gas Use'

Residents in Tuen Mun on Tuesday complained about feeling unwell after police overnight allegedly fired tear gas into the corridor of a public housing estate during a clearance operation.

One resident told RTHK it was “outrageous” for the police to have fired at least one tear gas canister onto the seventh floor of Yat Sang House of Siu Hin Court estate, and another complained that officers had not apologised for what happened.

Many said they felt nose and throat irritation after inhaling the gas, and were either forced to leave their units, or wear masks inside their homes for hours.

The protest in Tuen Mun came after claims that police were testing tear gas at its Tai Hing Operational Base, which were said to have made many residents feel unwell. The police denied they were testing tear gas, or any other substance.

The Fire Services and Environmental Hygiene departments have so far said they are unable to verify where the smell had come from.

There are facilities for vulnerable people in the area, including a rehabilitation centre, care home and special school.

A local shelter for rescued animals, called Hand in Paw, also has premises nearby. Terry Ng, who works at the shelter, said the group on Monday had put out an appeal for volunteers to temporarily house cats and dogs after the animals started coughing and vomiting.

“We called a lot of volunteers to come and move the animals to their house to live temporarily as we need to clean up our shelters. And now, most of the volunteers have come to our shelter and they have started cleaning our place. The animals are safe at their homes now”, Ng said.

The centre said it has been in operation for many years and had never experienced this kind of problem.