Police are on the hunt for two Indian men who escaped immigration officers at the Hung Hom railway station on Sunday.
The men, who had taken a train from Shanghai, were refused entry by officers because they couldn’t ascertain the purpose of their visit, the Immigration Department said.
On Sunday evening, the pair, aged 27 and 35, were scheduled to be deported on a train back to Shanghai, and were handed over to rail staff. However, a source told the SCMP that the men jumped off the train just seconds before it left the station. The duo then reportedly ran down the tracks and climbed over a fence.
Immigration officers tried – and more importantly, failed – to detain them and the case is now being investigated by Kowloon City district detectives.
Apparently the duo’s great escape was not particularly hard to pull off, as neither of them were handcuffed or being escorted by immigration staff during their deportation. SCMP’s source said that immigration officers were only responsible for putting the men on the train, and that their duties should have ended after it departed.
A spokesperson for the Immigration Department said an incident like this had never happened before, which seems amazing considering how easily it was pulled off. The spokesperson also indicated the department’s “great concern” over the incident, and asked that train station management and law enforcement agencies review and reinforce security measures on platforms, as well as deportation procedures.
Got a tip? Send it to us at hongkong@coconuts.co
