HONG KONG – A gang of knife-wielding men jumped a delivery driver in Hong Kong and stole hundreds of toilet rolls, police said yesterday, in a city wracked by shortages caused by novel coronavirus-induced panic-buying.
Toilet rolls have become hot property in the densely packed business hub, despite government assurances that supplies remain unaffected by the virus outbreak.
Supermarkets have found themselves unable to restock quickly enough, leading to sometimes lengthy queues and shelves wiped clean within moments of opening.
There has also been a run on staples such as rice and pasta, as well as hand sanitiser and other cleaning items.
Police said a truck driver was held up early yesterday by three men outside a supermarket in Mong Kok, a working-class district with a history of “triad” organised crime gangs.“A delivery man was threatened by three knife-wielding men who took toilet paper worth more than HK$1,000,” a police spokesman told AFP.
A police source told AFP the missing rolls were later recovered and two suspects were arrested on scene although it was not clear if they were directly involved in the armed robbery.
Footage from Now TV showed police investigators standing around multiple crates of toilet roll outside a Wellcome supermarket. One of the crates was only half stacked.Hongkongers reacted with a mixture of bafflement and merriment to the heist.
One woman passing by the scene of the crime who was interviewed by local TV station iCable quipped: “I’d steal face masks, but not toilet rolls.”
The city, which has 58 confirmed coronavirus cases, is currently experiencing a genuine shortage of face masks.
The hysteria that has swept through Hong Kong since the COVID-19 outbreak exploded on mainland China is partly fuelled by the city’s tragic recent history of confronting a deadly disease.In 2003, 299 Hongkongers died of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
Authorities have blamed online rumours for the panic-buying and say supplies of food and household goods remain stable.
But the panic-buying has itself created shortages in one of the world’s most densely populated cities where supermarkets and pharmacies have limited floor space.
Photos posted online have shown some people proudly stuffing their cramped city apartments with packets of hoarded toilet rolls.
On Sunday, the head of the city’s Consumer Council warned people not to stockpile toilet rolls in their flats as they were prone to mould in the notoriously humid climate.She also reiterated that there were ample stocks of paper.
Supermarket chain Wellcome called yesterday’s robbery a “senseless act”, and called on people not to bulk buy or hoard toilet roll.
“We want to emphasise that we have sufficient toilet roll supply to meet demand,” it said in a statement. “The temporary shortage was caused by the sudden and unusual surge in demand.” – AFP
