Wuhan coronavirus: Hong Kong protesters fire-bomb quarantine facility in district bordering China
Protesters in Hong Kong have been railing against Chinese authorities for political reasons for a while. And now, the outbreak of the coronavirus has added fuel to the fire. On Sunday, January 26, they hurled petrol bombs at an empty housing complex to protest it being designated as a quarantine zone.
Several masked protesters wearing black rushed into the newly-built public housing block of the Fai Ming Estate in Hong Kong’s Fanling district bordering China and launched Molotov cocktails at it. The building was soon engulfed by flames and the protesters also smashed its windows.
Authorities wanted to make the residential complex a temporary facility
The complex was earmarked to become a temporary quarantine facility after Hong Kong confirmed six cases of the virus on Sunday. Officials proposed using the building to keep suspected victims as well as medical staff members who are dealing with the cases and are worried that their family members could be affected. But the local residents resorted to a violent reaction that prompted riot police to be called in. At least one person was arrested.
“We are dissatisfied with the government selecting this housing estate as a [quarantine] separation village as it's very close to a residential area and a primary school,” Channel News Asia quoted a resident surnamed Tsang, 28, as saying.
Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection later said the plan to turn the residential complex into a quarantine zone would be suspended, reports added.
Hong Kong has witnessed anti-China protests since last June over extradition plans, as locals feel there is a trend of growing interference from China. Beijing has denied the charges and blamed the West for fuelling trouble in the former British colony that was handed to China in 1997.
The recent outbreak of the deadly coronavirus in the populous city of Wuhan in Hubei province has put even more pressure on the embattled people of the financial hub.
On Sunday, China’s National Health Commission said nearly 2,000 people in its territory have been infected by the disease while 80 have died from the disease.