Two RTHK Reporters Injured While Covering Clashes

Two RTHK reporters were hurt on Tuesday while covering anti-government demonstrations across the city, with one hit by a projectile to the forehead and another struck on his knee with what’s believed to be a rubber bullet.

The first incident happened in the afternoon in Sham Shui Po, after the English news reporter was trailing a group of protesters who had been throwing molotov cocktails towards the police station there.

He had gotten to what he believed to be a safe distance away when he was struck by some form of projectile, causing the area just above his right eye to bleed and swell up.

The reporter was later discharged after seeking hospital treatment.

The second incident involved an RTHK camera operator with the Chinese news department, covering unrest near the Mong Kok police station at around 11pm.

He said he was with a group of reporters, with no protesters nearby that he could see, when he was hit in the knee with what he believes to be a rubber bullet.

He said he was puzzled at whether and why police would have targeted him, or the other journalists around him.

The journalist was helped to a safe distance away before he was treated by volunteer first-aid workers. He was then taken to hospital for treatment.

Reporters from other media outlets had also been hurt after they were splashed along with police by a corrosive liquid thrown by protesters in Tuen Mun.