Nine people have been arrested in Hong Kong on suspicion of preparing terrorist activities. According to the police, the suspects wanted to make an explosive substance and detonate the bombs manufactured with it in the city.
Targets would be courts, harbor tunnels and railways. “They even planned to hide some bombs in garbage cans on the street in order to do as much damage as possible to society,” a police spokesman said at a news conference.
The suspects are five men or boys and four women or girls between the ages of 15 and 39. Six of the nine suspects are in high school. The three adults are a university employee, a high school teacher and an unemployed person.
I worked in the hostel
According to the police, the group wanted to make the explosive substance TATP in a homemade laboratory in a hostel. The space was rented for a month. “They had divided the work,” said a senior officer. “That’s how some took care of the money. And the scientists made the explosives. There was also a team that was responsible for placing the bombs.”
Raw materials for the explosives and equipment have been seized, as well as a “trace” of the explosive substance, police said. Instructions for use and 80,000 Hong Kong dollars (8,600 euros) in cash were also found. Bank balances of about 600,000 HKD (65,000 euros) have been frozen.
Everyone in the group wanted to leave Hong Kong, police say. They would have planned to set off the explosives and then leave for good.
Mass protests
The situation in Hong Kong has been tense for years. Before the corona crisis broke out, there were regular mass protests against the increasing interference from Beijing in the governance of Hong Kong. One million people took to the streets to make their voices heard against a controversial extradition bill.
The police cracked down on the protests and arrested thousands of demonstrators.
This is not the first time that explosives have been found. Two years ago, a 27-year-old man arrested after a raid. Two kilograms of TATP were found in the process.
NOS previously made a video on 3 explaining the protests:
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