Hong Kong police are investigating after two local media outlets received suspicious letters containing white powder – believed to be crushed oatmeal – sent from the United Kingdom.
Police said that at around 3pm on Wednesday, online media outlet HK01 received an airmail letter delivered from the UK at its Kwai Chung office. Staff at the office in Tower 1 of Ever Gain Plaza opened the letter and found suspicious white powder inside. They subsequently called police.
The police force deployed officers from its explosive ordnance disposal bureau while the Fire Services Department sent its hazardous materials team to handle the letter.
The force’s Counter Terrorism Response Unit also arrived at the scene. The Kwai Tsing district crime squad is investigating the case.
HK01 later issued a statement strongly condemning all despicable acts that attempted to incite panic or intimidate journalists and interfere with editorial independence through the use of hazardous items or threatening letters.
At about 6.21pm, the Ta Kung Wen Wei Media Group’s Aberdeen office at Hing Wai Centre also received a letter containing suspicious powder.
Dot Dot News, the group’s online media outlet, confirmed on its website that its staff had received the letter and heard the sound of powder when shaking it.
They subsequently called police. The outlet strongly condemned any acts attempting to interfere with normal journalism through improper means.
Both cases were classified as a “request for police assistance”.
A police source said initial investigations indicated that both envelopes contained crushed oatmeal sent from the United Kingdom.
No credible chemical, biological or radiological agents had been found so far. The letters were taken away for testing, with the results pending. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
