Hong Kong protesters lose plot by torching planned quarantine building

An entrance to a housing block of the Fai Ming Estate is seen on fire as residents protesting against plans for the estate to be used as a quarantine camp for patients and frontline medical staff of a coronavirus outbreak which began in the Chinese city of Wuhan, in the Fanling district in Hong Kong on Sunday (Jan 26). - AFP

HONG KONG: A group of protesters set alight on Sunday (Jan 26) the lobby of a newly built residential building in Hong Kong that authorities planned to use as a quarantine facility, as public fears in the financial hub about the coronavirus outbreak intensified.

A witness saw several masked protesters, clad in black, rush into the public housing block in Hong Kong's Fanling district near to the border with China, and set alight a Molotov cocktail before running out. Black smoke could be seen pouring out of the building to the sound of fire alarms. Windows were smashed.