MTR suffers rush hour chaos

A power cable broke at Mass Transit Railway (MTR)'s Yau Ma Tei station during the morning rush hour Thursday, disrupting the Tsuen Wan line service for three hours and wreaking havoc on thousands of commuters.

Sixty buses were deployed to transport stranded passengers, who complained of confusion, disorder and long queues. MTR Corporation (MTRC) later made a public apology.

MTRC is expected to offer an explanation on its contingency plan and daily maintenance in its report on the incident.

Crane topples at Tsing Yi site

A crane toppled in a Tsing Yi construction site around 11 am Thursday morning. Nobody was injured.

The accident took place around 11 am at the construction site at 40-50 Tsing Yi Road, where a logistics center is being built. The cause of the accident is being investigated. According to records of the Hong Kong Observatory, the wind speed was about 30 kilometers per hour in Tsing Yi at the time.

Divorcee leaves children behind

A divorced mother was sentenced to 12 months probation after disappearing for days and leaving her children alone at home.

Tung Si-ngar, 33, earlier pleaded guilty to one count of child abuse and one count of common assault. The court heard that Tung divorced her husband in 2008 and now lives with her daughter and son, aged 11 and eight, in Hang On Building, Wo Lok Estate. She left home on the evening of July 8, without preparing food or leaving instructions. The two hungry children phoned their father for help. Her ex-husband didn't succeed in contacting Tung until four days later to find that she was actually on the mainland. He alerted police. Police also found during their investigation that Tung had beaten her daughter with a cane during a quarrel before she left home.

Cigarette search causes tragedy

A 27-year-old motorist who killed a driver of a broken-down van in a highway accident has been sentenced to 15 months in prison.

Chong Chun-ho pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death in the District Court Thursday. The court heard that the van driven by Gurinder Singh, an Indian native, broke down on the fast lane while traveling along North Lantau Highway. Singh got out and stood behind the van to investigate the problem. But Chong, distracted because he was looking for a pack of cigarette, didn't slow down in time. Chong's car hit the van and two vehicles skidded forward on the impact, with Singh trapped between them.

Ex-cop convicted of contempt

A former policewoman who secretly obtained recordings of witnesses' discussion to help clear her husband during a court trial was convicted of contempt of court in the High Court.

Ng Wi-bing, a retired police constable, suspected that police officers testifying against her husband and co-defendants in a vice case would collude to frame the accused. She asked a friend to hide a digital recorder under a chair of the witness room and obtained 47 recordings. The recordings, when presented in court, affected the witnesses' credibility. As a result, Ng's husband went free and two police officers are facing charges including perverting the course of justice.

China Daily

(HK Edition 10/22/2010 page1)