Prisoner’s on the loose.
According to HK01, a male inmate escaped custody about 9am morning by climbing through a ceiling of a bathroom at Queen Mary hospital, where he had been taken after complaining of feeling sick.
Police roadblocks have reportedly been set up around the facility in Pok Fu Lam and a manhunt is underway.
Officers haven’t ruled out whether the man has fled the area by car, HK01 reported.
The SCMP, quoting an anonymous police source, reported the man was arrested on Thursday at the airport. They identified him as 34-year-old Leon Li, who had been a fugitive from Hong Kong police since 2015 when he was arrested and charged with possession of a fake ID card.
Bailed after his initial arrest, he escaped Hong Kong and was re-captured when trying to re-enter Hong Kong on a Dominican Republic passport, which it described as one of several he possesses, including a Chinese one.
The newspaper described him as about 5 feet 5 inches tall with dark skin.
He was being held at the Central police station but was taken to hospital after telling police he had AIDs and was feeling sick, according to HK01.
It’s been a couple of years, but the escape isn’t the first of its kind.
In June, 2015 an 18-year-old — facing a drug trafficking and acid attack case — managed to unshackle himself and slip his minders while at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kowloon before being recaptured several hours later, according to the SCMP.
The same month, a 14-year-old boy, detained for breaching a curfew order, also got away from guards at Tuen Mun, though hid in the hospital and was soon rearrested.
At the same hospital in September 14, also escaped police officers, according to HK01, with the guards reportedly buying food at the time.
*This story has been updated to include more information reported by local outlets.
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